Natural fibers are gaining popularity as reinforcement materials for thermoset resins over the last two decades. Natural fibers are inexpensive, abundant, renewable and environmentally friendly. Kenaf fibers are one of t ...

Fracture toughness of wood and wood composites has traditionally been characterized by a stress intensity factor, an initiation strain energy release rate (G[subscript init]) or a total energy to fracture (G[subscript f] ...

Rapid discoloration and checking of wooden surfaces when exposed outdoors has caused wood to fall out of favor as an outdoor building material, especially in applications where appearance is important. The surface appear ...

A new approach was developed for the evaluation of energy release rate by the virtual crack closure technique in quadratic and linear elements. The generalized method allows arbitrary placement of the side nodes for quad ...

The overall goal of this study was to gain an insight into the load sharing aspect between oriented strand board (OSB) and gypsum wall board (GWB) in shear wall assembly during racking load. More specifically the objecti ...