Fracture behaviour of historic and new oak wood
Open accessAbstract
Recent museum studies have indicated the appearance of cracks and dimensional changes on decorated oak panels in historical Dutch cabinets and panel paintings. A thorough analysis of these damage mechanisms is needed to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the causes of damage and to advise museums on future sustainable preservation strategies and rational guidelines for indoor climate specifications. For this purpose, a combined experimental-numerical characterization of the fracture behaviour of oak wood of various ages is presented in this communication. Three-point bending tests were performed on historical samples dated 1300 and 1668 A.D. and on new samples. The measured failure responses and fracture paths are compared against numerical results computed with a finite element model. The discrete fracture behaviour is accurately simulated by using a robust interface damage model in combination with a dissipation-based path-following technique. The results indicate that the samples dated 1300 A.D. show a quasi-brittle fracture response, while the samples dated 1668 A.D. and the new samples show a rather brittle failure response. Further, the local tensile strength of the oak wood decreases with age in an approximately linear fashion, thus indicating a so-called ageing effect. Numerical simulations show that, due to small imperfections at the notch tip of the specimen, the maximal load carrying capacity under three-point bending may decrease by maximally $$7 \%$$ . A comparison between a calibration of the experimental results by isotropic and orthotropic elastic models shows that the peak load is 10– $$13\%$$ higher for the orthotropic elastic model. Finally, no significant dependence of the fracture toughness on the age of the oak wood and on the orientation of the fracture plane has been found. The strength and toughness values measured can be used as input for advanced numerical simulations on climate-induced damage in decorated oak wooden panels and panel paintings.
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Repeated wetting-drying cycles and long-term loads can lead to microcracks, particularly at cell wall corners and in the middle lamella region, creating stress concentration and reducing energy absorption and stress redistribution capacity.
“Repeated wetting-drying cycles and long-term loads can lead to microcracks, particularly at cell wall corners and in the middle lamella region; these discontinuities can create stress concentration, thereby reducing the material's energy absorption and stress redistribution capacity (Luimes et al. 2018;García-Iruela et al. 2020;Peng et al. 2020;Mi et al. 2023).”
From Preliminary structural reuse assessment of reclaimed Juniperus excelsa Timber after approximately 42 years of service: Mechanical response, visible defects, and SEM observations (2026) · cites this paper as Luimes et al. 2018
The Experimental results > Load-deflection response section reports that microcracks nucleate and coalesce near peak strength during three-point bending. The paper does not establish that repeated wetting–drying or long-term loads cause microcracks at cell-wall corners or in the middle lamella, or that such cracks reduce energy absorption and stress redistribution capacity. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe study's SEM observations provide only descriptive microstructural context consistent with mechanisms reported for aged and historic wood, not causal evidence.
“These limited qualitative images cannot establish causality or sample-level correlations; they provide only descriptive microstructural context consistent with mechanisms reported for aged and historic wood (Kránitz et al. 2016;Luimes et al. 2018).”
From Preliminary structural reuse assessment of reclaimed Juniperus excelsa Timber after approximately 42 years of service: Mechanical response, visible defects, and SEM observations (2026) · cites this paper as Luimes et al. 2018
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Cited by
- Authors
- Luimes, R. A., Suiker, A. S. J., Verhoosel, C. V., Jorissen, A. J. M., & Schellen, H. L.
- Affiliations
- Eindhoven University of Technology (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Suiker, A. S. J.
- Venue
- Wood Science and Technology
- Published
- 2018-07-18
- Volume
- 52
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1243-1269
- ISSN
- 0043-7719 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-5225
- PMC
- PMC6428354
- OpenAlex
- W2884668977
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 2.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Wood Science and Technology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- TU/e Research Portal (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- TU/e Research Portal (submittedVersion)
- TU/e Research Portal (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Technische Universiteit Eindhoven
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Science4Arts)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Wood Treatment and Properties
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Conservation › Conservation Techniques and Studies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanics of Materials › Mechanical Behavior of Composites
- Keywords
- oak wood, fracture behavior, wood aging, three-point bending, fracture toughness, quasi-brittle fracture, brittle fracture, museum conservation
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