The Determination of Brinnell Hardness for Beech Wood (Fagus Sylvatica L) in Albania

Abstract

This study regards the determinations of Brinnell hardness on Albanian beach (Fagus sylvatica L). The results showed that the Brinell-hardness of beech wood is 66 N/mm2 30.3 N/mm2 and 33.4 N/mm2 respectively for longitudinal, radial and tangential direction. Little research was carried out to compare of the Brinell-hardness of the normal and the red-hearted beech wood and it is shown that the hardness in the tangential section of the red-hearted wood are significantly higher than normal wood (+11.8%). On the radial section differences were smaller (+8.3%). The hardness values for samples of the first group (7-10 growth rings) tends to be higher (+16%) than the hardness of second group (11-15 growth rings). This is because the wood samples with small numbers of growth rings have the greater proportions of summer wood and the greater density of wood.