Material Properties for Wooden Bars
Overview
This page provides a table of material properties for different kinds of wood. Measurements for Young's modulus along the grain, radially (perpendicular to the grain), and tangentially (depth) are given. Generally, the tangential measurement is not used for Modalys objects, but provided here out of interest. Many woods have a radial Young's modulus that is approximately a power of ten less than the Young's modulus along the grain. Therefore, where a radial Young's modulus is not given, you can approximate it by lowering the exponent one value and comparing it with measurements of similar woods.
Water ice also has a different Young's modulus perpendicular to the crystallization, so its material properties are also provided in this list, even though it is not a wood!
The list of appropriate freq-loss and const-loss values for different types of wood will hopefully be enlarged in the future. Although this is not a material property, it is an important factor in the way certain types of wood behave when used as musical objects.
NB: Density is expressed in kg/m3, Young's modulus in N/m2, and poisson has no dimension. Sometimes Young's modulus is expressed in GPa (gigapascals), and the conversion formula is 1 Gpa = 109 N/m2. For definitions of the physical properties see the object properties page.
Table of Material Properties for Wood
Wood
| Wood | density kg/m3 | young N/m2 | young Radial | young Tangential | freq-loss | const-loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ash | 710 | 1.6e10 | 1.6e9 | 9.0e8 | - | - |
| Balsa | 160 | 6.0e9 | 3.0e8 | 1.0e8 | - | - |
| Bamboo | 300 - 400 | 1.4e10 | - | - | - | - |
| Beech | 700 | 1.4e10 | 2.2e9 | 1.1e9 | - | - |
| Birch | 670 | 1.6e10 | 1.1e9 | 6.0e8 | - | - |
| Cocobolo | 1070 | 1.3e10 | - | - | - | - |
| Ebony | 1010 | 1.8e10 - 1.9e10 | - | - | - | - |
| Douglas Fir | 530 | 1.6e10 | 1.1e9 | 8.0e8 | - | - |
| Ice (i.e. water) | 920 | 1.2e10 | 8.6e9 | - | - | - |
| Larch | 590 | 1.2e10 | - | - | - | - |
| Mahogany | 500 - 850 | 1.2e10 | 1.1e9 | 6.0e8 | - | - |
| African Mahogany | 540 - 550 | 1.2e10 | 9.3e8 - 1.2e9 | - | - | - |
| Maple | 800 | 1.7e10 | 1.5e9 | 7.3e8 | - | - |
| European Maple | 640 | 1.0e10 | 2.2e9 | - | - | - |
| Oak | 600 - 900 | 1.1e10 | - | - | - | - |
| African Padouk (Pterocarpus) | 650 - 790 | 9.54e9 - 1.4e10 | - | - | 8.22e-6 | 6.22 |
| Pernambuco | 970 - 1000 | 2.0e10 - 2.2e10 | - | - | - | - |
| Pine | 350 - 500 | 9.0e9 | - | - | - | - |
| Scots Pine | 510 | 1.6e10 | 1.1e9 | 6.0e8 | - | - |
| Redwood | 380 | 9.5e9 | 9.6e8 | - | - | - |
| Rosewood | 820 - 1080 | 2.13e10 - 2.3e10 | 2.3e9 | 1.15e9 | - | - |
| Brazilian Rosewood (Pallisandre) | 830 - 850 | 1.6e10 | 2.8e9 | - | 4.7e-6 | 25.79 |
| Indian Rosewood | 730 - 740 | 1.2e10 | 1.7e9 - 2.2e9 | - | - | - |
| Spruce | 400 - 700 | 1.0e10 - 1.6e10 | 4.0e8 - 9.0e8 | 4.0e8 - 6.0e8 | - | - |
| Canadian Spruce | 450 | 1.1e10 | - | - | - | - |
| Norway Spruce | 460 | 1.5e10 | 9.3e8 | - | - | - |
| Sitka Spruce | 460 - 470 | 1.3e10 | 8.9e8 - 1.3e9 | - | - | - |
| Teak | 650 - 980 | 1.3e10 | - | - | - | - |
| Walnut | 490 - 630 | 1.1e10 | 1.2e9 | 6.0e8 | - | - |