Wood, Panel and Structural Timber Products - Mechanical Properties

Density, fibre stress, compressive strength and modulus of elasticity of clear wood, panel and structural timber products.

Clear Wood

Wood	Density - ρ - (kg/m³)	Fibre Stress at Elastic Limit - σ_y - (MPa)	Modulus of Elasticity - E - (GPa)	Compressive Strength parallel to Grain - σ - (MPa)	Shear Strength parallel to grain - τ - (MPa)
Alder, red	410	68	9.5	40.1	7.4
Ash - Black, Blue, Green, Oregon, White	490 - 600	87 - 103	9.4 - 12	41.2 - 51.1	10.8 - 14
Aspen - Bigtooth, Quaking	390	63	9.9	36.5	7.4
Baldcypress	460	73	9.9	43.9	6.9
Baswood, American	370	60	10.1	32.6	6.9
Beech, American	640	103	11.9	50.3	13.9
Birch - Paper, Sweet, Yellow	550 - 620	85 - 114	11 - 15	39.2 - 58.9	8.3 - 15.4
Butternut	380	56	8.1	36.2	8.1
Cedar - Atlantic White, Eastern Red, Incence, Northern White, Port-Orford, Western Red, Yellow	310 - 470	45 - 88	5.5 - 11.7	27.3 - 43.5	5.5 - 9.4
Cherry, black	500	85	10.3	49	11.7
Chestnut, American	430	59	8.5	36.7	7.4
Cottonwood - Balam Poplar, Black, Eastern	310 - 400	27 - 59	7.6 - 9.4	27.7 - 33.9	5.4 - 7.2
Douglas-fir - Coast, Inerior West, Interior North, Interior South	460 - 500	82 - 90	10.3 - 13.4	43.1 - 51.2	7.8 - 10.4
Elm, English	560	40 - 54	11.8	17 - 32	8 - 11.3
Elm, Dutch	560	42 - 60	7.7	18 - 32	7.2 - 10
Fir	320 - 430	61.4 - 75.8	8.9 - 11.9	33.5 - 44.2	6.2 - 8.4
Hackberry	530	76	8.2	37.5	11
Hemlock - Eastern, Mountain, Western	400 - 450	61 - 79	8.3 - 11.3	37.3 - 49	7.3 - 10.6
Hickory, pecan - Bitternut, Nutmeg, Pecan, Water	600 - 660	94 - 123	11.7 - 13.9	47.6 - 62.3	14.3
Hickory, true - Mockernut, Pignut, Shagbark, Shellbark	690 - 720	125 - 139	14.9 - 15.6	55.2 - 63.5	12 - 16.8
Honeylocust		101	11.2	51.7	15.5
Larch, Western	520	90	12.9	52.5
Locust, black	690	134	14.1	70.2	17.1
Magnolia - Cucumbertree, Southern	480 - 500	77 - 85	9.7 - 12.5	37.6 - 43.5	9.2 - 10.5
Mahogany	545	60	8.7	45	6.0
Maple - Bigleaf, Black, Red, Silver, Sugar	480 - 630	61 - 109	7.9 - 12.6	36 - 54	11.9 - 16.1
Oak, red - Black, Cherrybark, laurel, Northern Red, Pin, Scarlet, Southern Red, Water, Willow	590 - 690	75 - 125	10.3 - 13.1	42 - 60.3	9.6 - 14.3
Oak, white - Bur, Chestnut, Live, Overcup, Post, Swamp Chestnut, Swamp White, White	640 - 880	71 - 127	7.1 - 13.7	41.8 - 61.4	10.3 - 13.8
Pine - Eastern White, Jack, Loblolly, Lodgepole, Longleaf, Pitch	350 - 590	59 - 100	8.5 - 13.7	33.1 - 49.2	6.1 - 10.4
Poplar, Yellow	420	70	10.9	38.2	8.2
Sassafras	460	62	7.7	32.8	8.5
Spruce - Black, Engelmann, Red, Sitka, White, Norway	350 - 430	63 - 79	7.9 - 11	37 - 44	6.8 - 9.2
Sweetgum	520	86	11.3	43.6	11
Sycamore, American	490	69	9.8	37.1	10.1
Tupelo - Black, Water	500	66	8.3 - 8.7	38.1 - 40.8	9.2 - 11
Walnut, black	550	101	11.6	52.3	9.4
Willow, black	390	54	7	28.3	8.6

values for wood with 12% moisture content
1 MPa = 10⁶ Pa
1 GPa = 10⁹ Pa
Fibre Stress at Elastic Limit (Modulus of Rupture)
Modulus of Elasticity (Tensile Modulus, Young's Modulus)

Download and print Tension Unit Converter Chart

Panel Products

Panel	Density - ρ - (kg/m³)	Fibre Stress at Elastic Limit - σ_y - (MPa)	Modulus of Elasticity - E - (GPa)
Hardboard	900 - 1000	31 - 56	3.1 - 5.5
MDF - Medium Density Fiberboard	700 - 900	36	3.6
Particleboard	600 - 800	15 - 24	2.8 - 4.1
OSB - Oriented Strandboard	500 - 800	22 - 35	4.4 - 6.3
Plywood	400 - 600	34 - 43	7 - 8.6