The properties of wood and wood-based materials are strongly dependent on the properties of the fibres, that is, the cell wall properties. It is thus highly important to be able to mechanically characterise cell walls in order to understand structure-property relationships. This article gives a brief overview of the state of the art in experimental techniques to characterise the mechanical properties of wood at both the level of the single cell and that of the cell wall. Challenges, opportunities, drawbacks and limitations of single fibre tensile tests and nanoindentation are discussed with respect to the wood material properties. Introduction and background

International audiencePeak-Force Quantitative Nano-Mechanical property mapping (PF-QNM) was applied to explore the nano-mechanical properties of flax fibre cell walls in cross-section. After validation of the ability of PF-QNM to determine stiffness gradients in aramid fibres, measurements were performed on developing flax bast fibres. The presence of two layers with different indentation moduli implies their progressive development during thickening of the secondary cell wall. Finally, measurements were carried out on technical flax fibre cell wall; but, in this case, no significant stiffness gradient could be identified in the secondary S 2 layer

Abstract:The development of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) fibers was studied to obtain better insight on the progression of their high mechanical performances during plant growth. Fibers at two steps of plant development were studied, namely the end of the fast growth period and at plant maturity, each time at three plant heights. The indentation modulus of the fiber cell wall was characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) using peak-force quantitative nano-mechanical property mapping (PF-QNM). Changes in the cell wall modulus with the cell wall thickening were highlighted. For growing plants, fibers from top and middle heights show a loose inner Gn layer with a lower indentation modulus than mature fibers, which exhibit thickened homogeneous cell walls made only of a G layer. The influence of these changes in the fiber cell wall on the mechanical performances of extracted elementary fibers was also emphasized by tensile tests. In addition, Raman spectra were recorded on samples from both growing and mature plants. The results suggest that, for the fiber cell wall, the cellulose contribution increases with fiber maturity, leading to a greater cell wall modulus of flax fibers.

Nowadays, the multi-scale modelling of wood has a great need for measurements of structural, chemical and mechanical properties at the lowest level. In this paper, the viscoelastic properties in the layers of a wood cell wall are investigated using the contact resonance mode of an atomic force microscope (CR-AFM). A detailed experimental protocol suitable for obtaining reproducible and quantifiable data is proposed. It is based on three main steps: sample preparation to obtain a good surface state, calibration of the contact modulus using reference samples, and image processing to produce the viscoelastic images. This protocol is applied on chestnut tension wood. The obtained topography and semi-quantitative viscoelastic maps are discussed with respect to the cell wall structure, sample preparation effects, and AFM measurement specificity compared with nanoindentation.

Trees can control their shape and resist gravity thanks to their ability to produce wood under tensile stress. This stress is known to be produced during the maturation of wood fibres but the mechanism of its generation remains unclear. This study focuses on the formation of the secondary wall in tension wood produced in artificially tilted poplar saplings. Thickness of secondary wall layer (SL) and gelatinous layer (GL) were measured from cambium to mature wood in several trees sampled at different times after tilting. Measurements on wood fibres produced before tilting show the progressive increase of secondary wall thickness during the growing season. After the tilting date, SL thickness decreased markedly from normal wood to tension wood while the total thickness increased compared to normal wood, with the development of a thick GL. However, even after GL formation, SL thickness continues to increase during the growing season. GL thickening was observed to be faster than SL thickening. The development of the unlignified GL is proposed to be a low cost, efficient strategy for a fast generation of tensile stress in broadleaved trees.

Today, plant fibers are considered as an important new renewable resource that can compete with some synthetic fibers, such as glass, in fiber-reinforced composites. In previous works, it was noted that the pectin-enriched middle lamella (ML) is a weak point in the fiber bundles for plant fiber-reinforced composites. ML is strongly bonded to the primary walls of the cells to form a complex layer called the compound middle lamella (CML). In a composite, cracks preferentially propagate along and through this layer when a mechanical loading is applied. In this work, middle lamellae of several plant fibers of different origin (flax, hemp, jute, kenaf, nettle, and date palm leaf sheath), among the most used for composite reinforcement, are investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The peak-force quantitative nanomechanical property mapping (PF-QNM) mode is used in order to estimate the indentation modulus of this layer. AFM PF-QNM confirmed its potential and suitability to mechanically characterize and compare the stiffness of small areas at the micro and nanoscale level, such as plant cell walls and middle lamellae. Our results suggest that the mean indentation modulus of ML is in the range from 6 GPa (date palm leaf sheath) to 16 GPa (hemp), depending on the plant considered. Moreover, local cell-wall layer architectures were finely evidenced and described.Molecules 2020, 25, 632 2 of 17 be found in Wambua et al. [8]. The authors studied several poly-(propylene) composites reinforced with different plant fibers (sisal, kenaf, jute, hemp, and coir), and their results showed that coir fibers, extracted from seeds, have lower longitudinal mechanical properties than the others but, on the other hand, they exhibit a higher impact strength, which was also confirmed in Reference [9]. This result follows the functional evolution of the different kinds of cells in a plant; for example, bast fibers are responsible for the stiff structure of a plant and this specific role also explains their high mechanical performance.Every bast fiber has a similar (ultra)structural model even if they originate from different plants. An elementary fiber is a single cell, and several fibers are linked to each other to form a bundle of several dozens of single fibers having a multilayer structure, as illustrated in Figure 1a: (1) the lumen is the central hollow part of the cell and its shape and diameter vary with the maturity of the plant and the environmental conditions during growth; (2) the secondary cell wall is the thickest layer, divided into two to three sub-layers (S 1 , S 2 or G, and S 3 ) rich in cellulose where the thinner and not always visible S 3 can also be assimilated to unmatured Gn layer instead of a real S 3 [10]; (3) the primary cell wall is the external layer enriched in hemicelluloses, pectins, and lignin [11]. Between the fibers, there is another layer called middle lamella (ML), which cements the primary cell walls of adjacent cells together and is mainly composed of pectic polysaccharides, lignin, and a small amou...

The goal of this paper is to propose an experimental method allowing the identification of the complete elastic tensor of anisotropic biological materials such as wood using only one sample. To do so, two complementary methods are used. First, the wood eigen-directions are defined from a sample of spherical shape that is then cut into a cube in a way to perform resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS). The method is successfully applied on a reference beech sample with known orthotropic directions. A comparison of the identified elastic constants with those from the literature and some inferred from ultrasonic transmission measurements is given.

International audienceVibrational properties of wood are affected by several parameters, of which extractives can be one of the most important ones. Wood for European musical instruments has been often studied, but traditional Middle Eastern ones had been left unnoticed. In this study white mulberry (Morus alba L.), the main material for long-necked lutes in Iran, was extracted by five solvents of various polarities (water included). Free-free bar forced vibrations were used to measure longitudinal (L) loss tangent (tanδ), storage (elastic) modulus (E′) and specific modulus (E′/γ) in the acoustic range. Their anisotropy between the 3 axes of orthotropy was determined by DMA (dynamic mechanical analysis). Native wood had a quite low EL′/γ but its tanδ was smaller than expected, and the anisotropy of tanδ and E′/γ was very low. Removal of extractives caused tanδ to increase and moduli to decrease. Acetone, the most effective solvent on damping despite a moderate extraction yield, increased tanδL by at least 20% but did not modify E′/γ as much. When used successively, its effects masked those of solvents used afterwards. Anisotropy of E′/γ was nearly unchanged after extraction in methanol or hot water, while tanδ was much more increased in R than in T direction. Results suggest that in white mulberry, damping is governed more by nature and localization of extractives rather than by their crud abundance