| dc.description.abstract | Black spruce is one of the most common commercial softwoods in Northwestern
Ontario. Its abundance, along with its physical and mechanical properties, make it a very
important species for commercial harvesting. Its physical and mechanical properties
make it suitable for infrastructure and load-bearing purposes, and knowing how these
characteristics can be maximized for the best quality lumber of important. The way trees
are managed while they are growing affects what kind of mechanical properties they end
up with when they are harvested, particularly in regard to thinning levels. This thesis
examines the effects of light and heavy thinning on Black spruce physical and
mechanical properties, and which of the two produces the better properties, particularly
for the purpose of wood quality.
Nine trees were taken from a forest near Beardmore, Ontario, where thinning
treatments were applied. There were three different treatment types in total: light
thinning, heavy thinning, and control. The trees were harvested after 15 years and cut
into sticks, where they were tested for properties, including modulus of elasticity and
modulus of rupture, according to the ASTM standards. The sticks were then cut into
compression and density cubes and tested for compression parallel to grain and density
also according to the corresponding standards. These tests were all done with the sticks
and cubes at 12% moisture content. After the density measurements were taken, the
density cubes were dried in an oven and tested for density again at 0% MC. Data
analysis was done using R studio and results found that light thinning produced the best
physical and mechanical properties consistently compared to the heavy thinning and
control plots. | en_US |
