Virtual lateral compression test by multiscale approach with wood cell model

Purpose In this study, we investigate the optimum model for a virtual material test of wood by comparing finite element method (FEM) analysis using the representative volume element (RVE) of wood cells and experiments. Design/methodology/approach The influence of the annual ring tilt angle θ on compression properties was investigated in the experiment and FEM analysis. Japanese cypress was used in this study. The RVE is a one-year annual ring comprising earlywood and latewood cells, and the cell shape was based on observations of the wood that was used for the experiment. The number of cells was optimized by comparing the FEM and experimental results. Findings Young's modulus E and proportional limit stress σp varied depending on the annual ring tilt angle θ in the experiment. In the analysis, E and σp varied depending on the latewood volume fraction Vl, which was determined by the number of cells of the earlywood and the latewood, and the FEM results agreed with the experimental results using RVE, whose Vl was the same as that of the specimen in the experiment. Originality/value The anisotropy of deformation in FEM with RVE based on wood observations were compared to those in the experiment using the wood observed to create the RVE. The FEM results agreed with the experimental results using the RVE, whose latewood volume fraction Vl was the same as that in the experiment.