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Negative Poisson's ratio: A ubiquitous feature of wood

Marmier, Arnaud; Miller, Wayne; Evans, Kenneth E.

Authors

Arnaud Marmier Arnaud.Marmier@uwe.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering

Wayne Miller

Kenneth E. Evans



Abstract

Most materials contract laterally when stretched axially i.e. they have a positive Poisson's ratio. Negative Poisson's ratios (NPR, also auxetic) are largely limited to single crystals or to artificial meta-materials such as honeycombs, foams and composites, which does limit their applications. This meta-study shows that NPR is abundantly present in an extremely common and useful category of natural materials, woods. This effect is so ubiquitous that 87 out of 123 measured hardwood samples and 58 of 62 softwood samples exhibit the property. In wood, NPR occurs predominantly in quite narrow off-axis directions, with values as low as − 3.32. This effect is chiefly attributable to the tubular structure of the wood cells. This suggests that low-cost, large-scale auxetic structural parts can be obtained by cutting low to medium density timber in specific off-axis directions, with potential benefits in a wide range of structural and construction applications.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 13, 2023
Online Publication Date Mar 15, 2023
Publication Date Jun 1, 2023
Deposit Date Apr 17, 2023
Publicly Available Date Apr 17, 2023
Journal Materials Today Communications
Electronic ISSN 2352-4928
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 35
Article Number 105810
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtcomm.2023.105810
Keywords Wood; Timber; Negative Poisson’s ratio; Auxeticity; Elasticity
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10629931
Publisher URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352492823005019?via%3Dihub

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