Development of the in-field sensor for estimation of fracture toughness and shear strength by measuring cutting forces

Knowledge on the fracture properties of materials is essential to assure structural integrity and proper design of mechanical connections in timber constructions. Measurement of this property is, however, a very challenging task. The linear fracture mechanics is usually used for its assessment assisted with experimental data acquired by means of various techniques, usually of destructive nature. The cutting force is an energetic effect of splitting material, and might be therefore considered from a point of view of modern fracture mechanics. The original methodology of simultaneous determination of the fracture toughness and of the shear yield strength on the basis of cutting forces was adopted here for timber characterisation. The set of experimental data was generated in a simple cutting test by using slightly modified out-the-shelf instrumentation. The resulting data are the slope and intercept of linear regression function of cutting forces versus chip thickness estimated for five European wood species. Both parameters are usable for computation of fracture toughness and shear yield strength in the shear plane, separately for two anatomical directions of wood. The simplicity and reliability of this method provides wide range of practical applications, including structural health assessment of the timber structures.