Effect of basic density and growth ring width on the bending strength of Norway spruce wood from southern and northern Finland

Abstract

A population consisting of 450 Norway spruce ( (L.) H. Karst.) samples was gathered from northern and southern Finnish wood. The static bending strength was affected greatly by the density of the wood. However, keeping the density constant, the bending strength was higher in northern than in southern Finnish wood. The reason was the effect of the growth ring width.Picea abies3