ABSTRACT
The study was carried out in Marihu Ndoki at Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State aimed at assessing modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) Allanblackia floribunda. Three mature Allanblackia floribunda trees were selected randomly from Marihu Ndoki forest in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State: samples collected randomly from the felled trees were trimmed to standard test specimens 20 x 20 x 300mm and taken to Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), Ibadan where Hounsfield Tensometer was used to measure MOR, MOE. The results showed that MOR was highest at the top (63.12 N/mm2) followed by bottom (48.75N/mm2), middle was the lowest (28.32N/mm2) in the axial direction. There was significant difference (P<0.05) in modulus of rupture in the axial direction within trees, but within the trees there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in MOR. The result showed that MOR on the tangential plane outer wood had the highest (78.75 N/mm2) followed by core wood (67.50 N/mm2), middle wood was the lowest (50.63 N/mm2) in the radial direction. There was significant difference (P<0.05) in MOR in the tangential direction within trees and among trees. The result of modulus of elasticity (MOE) was highest at the bottom (25836.96 N/mm2) followed by top (23991.00N/mm2), middle was the lowest (13289.12N/mm2) in the axial direction. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in MOE in the axial direction and within trees.MOE was highest at the middle wood and core wood (33219.00 N/mm2) followed by outer wood (16609.41N/mm2) in the radial direction. There was significant difference (P<0.05) in MOE in the tangential direction and within trees. This implies that the wood has high bending strength and stiff especially withstanding load perpendicular to grain-how much weight it carry without breaking along the grain. The wood is recommended for moderate or heavy load. |
