Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Some morphological and biochemical taxonomic markers are also affecting factors of dynamic mechanical properties of wood. Thus, could these properties reflect the classification/phylogeny of taxa? This work is a first insight into this question. It relied on the gathering (through experimental campaigns and exhaustive literature review) of a large database on the viscoelastic (i.e. including damping) vibrational properties of 445 woody species. relationship between damping was confirmed at a wide interspecific scale, but described no more than 40% of not in a way that could be easily related to the phylogenetic tree. Damping was a bit more -Papilionoideae and, to a lesser extent, Lauraceae, Cupressaceae and Moraceae) damping than average, independently While for some other families no clear characteristics could be observed at least with the present number of represented species. In the future, increasing the amount of data and compiling anatomical and chemical markers / affecting factors will allow further analysis at sub-family levels, and a better understanding of this wide topic.
6th Plant Biomechanics Conference PBM09
Cayenne, French Guiana

hal-00808398
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00808398
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00808398/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00808398/file/Mechanical_damping_wood_Bremaud_al.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Grain deviations and high extractives content are common features of many tropical woods. We aimed at clarifying their respective impact on vibrational properties, referring to African Padauk (Pterocarpus soyauxii Taub.), a species selected for its interlocked grain, high extractives content, and uses in xylophones. Specimens were cut parallel to the trunk axis (L), and local variations in grain angle (GA), microfibril angle (MFA), specific Young's modulus (E'L/ρ, where r stands for specific gravity) and damping coefficient (tanδL), were measured. GA dependence was analyzed by a mechanical model which allowed to identify the specific Young's modulus (E'3/ρ) and shear modulus (G'/ρ) along the grain (3), as well as their corresponding damping coefficients (tanδ3, tanδG). This analysis was done for native and then for extracted wood. Interlocked grain resulted in 0-25° GA and in variations of a factor 2 in E'L/ρ and tanδL. Along the grain, Padauk wood was characterized, as compared to typical hardwoods, by a somewhat lower E'3/ρ and elastic anisotropy (E'/G'), due to a wide microfibril angle plus a small weight effect of extracts; and a very low tanδ3 and moderate damping anisotropy (tanδG/tanδ3). Extraction affected mechanical parameters in the order: tanδ3 ≈ tanδG > G'/ρ >> E'3/ρ. That is, extractives' effects were nearly isotropic on damping but clearly anisotropic on storage moduli.
ISSN: 0043-7719

hal-00544382
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00544382
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00544382/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00544382/file/Identification_anisotropic_vibrational_properties_Bremaud_al.pdf
DOI : 10.1007/s00226-010-0348-0

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag/EDP Sciences
Résumé : International audience
Context and aim : This study aimed to examine the effect of the tension wood G‐layer on the viscoelastic properties of wood. Methods : Tension wood and opposite wood samples were obtained from six French Guianese tropical rainforest species (Sextonia rubra, Ocotea guyanensis, Inga alba, Tachigali melinoni, Iyranthera sagotiana and Virola michelii); the tension wood of the former three of these species had a Glayer, whilst the tension wood from the latter three had no Glayer. Tensile dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was performed on green never dried wood samples in the longitudinal direction with samples submerged in a water bath at a temperature (30°C) and frequency (1 Hz) representative of the conditions experienced by wood within a living tree. Then, DMA was repeated with samples conditioned to an air-dried state. Finally, samples were oven-dried to measure longitudinal shrinkage. Results : Tension wood did not always have a higher longitudinal storage (elastic) modulus than opposite wood from the same tree regardless of the presence or absence of a G‐layer. For the species containing a G‐layer, tension wood had a higher damping coefficient and experienced a greater longitudinal shrinkage upon drying than opposite wood from the same species. No difference was found in damping coefficients between tension wood and opposite wood for the species that had no G‐layer. Conclusion : It is proposed that the different molecular composition of the G-layer matrix has an influence on the viscoelasticity of wood, even if a biomechanical gain is not yet clear. This study shows that rheological properties and longitudinal shrinkage can be used to detect the presence of a G‐layer in tension wood.
ISSN: 1286-4560

hal-00677460
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00677460
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00677460/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00677460/file/Clair2.pdf
DOI : 10.1007/s13595-011-0164-1

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Extractives can affect vibrational properties tanδ (damping coefficient) and E'/ρ (specific Young's modulus) but this is highly dependent on species, compounds, and cellular locations. This paper investigates such effects for African Padauk (Pterocarpus soyauxii Taub.), a tropical hardwood with high extractives content and a preferred material for xylophones. 5 groups of 26 heartwood specimens with large, yet comparable, ranges in vibrational properties were extracted in different solvents. Changes in vibrational properties were set against yields of extracts and evaluation of their cellular location. Methanol (ME) reached most of compounds (13%), located about half in lumen and half in cell-wall. Water solubility was extremely low. tanδ and E'/ρ were very strongly related (R2≥0.93), but native wood had abnormally low values of tanδ, while extraction shifted this relation towards higher tanδ values. ME extracted heartwood became in agreement with the average of many species, and close to sapwood. Extractions increased tanδ as much as 60%, irrespective of minute moisture changes or of initial properties. Apparent E'/ρ was barely changed (+2% to -4%) but, after correcting the mass contribution of extracts, was in fact slightly reduced (down to -10% for high E'/ρ), and increasingly so for specimens with low initial values of E'/ρ.
ISSN: 0043-7719

hal-00804236
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00804236
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00804236/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00804236/file/Effect_extractives_vibrational_properties_Bremaud_al.pdf
DOI : 10.1007/s00226-010-0337-3

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Gravitropism is a major process in vertical growth as it allows the positioning of plant in the gravity field and thus, for trees, it takes part in the light foraging strategies. Without any gravitropism, trees would adopt a weeping habit or fall on the ground due to the increasing with growth supported weight, especially at the advance regeneration stage (sapling stage) in the understorey, where tree are very slender and poorly stiff. Most of the gravitropic studies are made by physiologists in order to understand the process and thus are associated to complex laboratory methods (genetic engineering, anatomical studies, accurate 2D ou 3D measurements of form changes with time). In order to study the ecological relevance and the specific diversity of gravitropic performances in natural forests, we developed a framework that uses different kinds of datas. Synchronical analysis has been done i) at the population level in large sample of trees and ii) at the tree level from destructive measurement of the dissymmetry maturation strains known to be the main motor of the posture control reaction of trees. In both cases, biomechanical models allows to estimate some aspects of the dynamic gravitropic process. Diachronical analysis has been done in natural conditions on permanent plots, or in a more traditional way, by observing in greenhouse experiments the righting movements of plants artificially tilted. In the first case, the problem is the high variability of natural disturbances and the slowness of growth and movements in the dark understorey. The second choice allows a measurement of a capacity (i.e. the ability of the species to react in quite extreme conditions of verticality disturbance but good for growth light and nutrient conditions) that is more easy to analyse, but is maybe not so relevant for estimating the ecological strategy (some species could have developed a high efficience of gravitropic reaction in natural conditions by avoiding the mechanical disturbance or adapting the reaction to slow growth and changing environments in natural conditions). All approaches use the same basic biomechanical modelling, i) to analyse simultaneously the reaction and the disturbance (due to the weight increase) during growth, or ii) to combine different parameters (geometry, growth, weight, maturation strains) involved in shape changes and posture control. They give a classification of the species according to their gravitropic performances. Results on 15 species are discussed, with relation to shade-tolerance or avoidance.
6th Plant Biomechanics Conference
Cayenne, France

hal-00565956
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00565956

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Gravitropism is necessary for plants to control the orientation of their axes while they grow in height. In woody plants, stem re-orientations are costly because they are achieved through diameter growth. The functional diversity of gravitropism was studied to check if the mechanisms involved and their efficiency may contribute to the differentiation of height growth strategies between forest tree species at the seedling stage. Seedlings of eight tropical species were grown tilted in a greenhouse, and their up-righting movement and diameter growth were measured during three months. Morphological, anatomical and biomechanical traits were measured at the end of the survey. Curvature analysis was used to analyse the up-righting response along the stems. Variations in stem curvature depend on diameter growth, size effects, the increase in self-weight, and the efficiency of the gravitropic reaction. A biomechanical model was used to separate these contributions. Results showed that (1) gravitropic movements were based on a common mechanism associated to similar dynamic patterns, (2) clear differences in efficiency (defined as the change in curvature achieved during an elementary diameter increment for a given stem diameter) existed between species, (3) the equilibrium angle of the stem and the anatomical characters associated to the efficiency of the reaction also differed between species, (4) the differences in gravitropic reaction were related to the light requirements: heliophilic species, compared to more shade-tolerant species, had a larger efficiency and an equilibrium angle closer to vertical. This suggests that traits determining the gravitropic reaction are related to the strategy of light interception and may contribute to the differentiation of ecological strategies promoting the maintenance of biodiversity in tropical rain forests.
ISSN: 0022-0957

hal-00797023
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00797023
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00797023/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00797023/file/Functional_diversity_gravitropic_Almeras_al.pdf

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
COST E50 Workshop: Reaction wood formation at stand, tree and cellular level

hal-00797326
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00797326

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Public Library of Science
Résumé : International audience
Domestication can influence many functional traits in plants, from overall life-history and growth form to wood density and cell wall ultrastructure. Such changes can increase fitness of the domesticate in agricultural environments but may negatively affect survival in the wild. We studied effects of domestication on stem biomechanics in manioc by comparing domesticated and ancestral wild taxa from two different regions of greater Amazonia. We compared mechanical properties, tissue organisation and wood characteristics including microfibril angles in both wild and domesticated plants, each growing in two different habitats (forest or savannah) and varying in growth form (shrub or liana). Wild taxa grew as shrubs in open savannah but as lianas in overgrown and forested habitats. Growth form plasticity was retained in domesticated manioc. However, stems of the domesticate showed brittle failure. Wild plants differed in mechanical architecture between shrub and liana phenotypes, a difference that diminished between shrubs and lianas of the domesticate. Stems of wild plants were generally stiffer, failed at higher bending stresses and were less prone to brittle fracture compared with shrub and liana phenotypes of the domesticate. Biomechanical differences between stems of wild and domesticated plants were mainly due to changes in wood density and cellulose microfibril angle rather than changes in secondary growth or tissue geometry. Domestication did not significantly modify "large-scale" trait development or growth form plasticity, since both wild and domesticated manioc can develop as shrubs or lianas. However, "finer-scale" developmental traits crucial to mechanical stability and thus ecological success of the plant were significantly modified. This profoundly influenced the likelihood of brittle failure, particularly in long climbing stems, thereby also influencing the survival of the domesticate in natural situations vulnerable to mechanical perturbation. We discuss the different selective pressures that could explain evolutionary modifications of stem biomechanical properties under domestication in manioc.
PLoS ONE

halsde-00917926
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/halsde-00917926
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/halsde-00917926/document
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0074727

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag/EDP Sciences
Résumé : International audience
The vibration damping coefficient (tanδ) of wood is an important property for acoustical uses, including musical instruments. Current difficulties in the availability of some of the preferred species call for diversification, but this comes up against the lack of systematic damping coefficient data. * Keeping in mind the possible factors affecting tanδ, could we predict its variations between species, by using indicators that are either easily measured and/or readily available for many species? * Vibrational properties, equilibrium moisture content and colorimetric parameters were assessed on 94 wood types belonging to 76 species. Experimental results were then related to data on chemical contents and physical properties from the CIRAD database. The "standard" relationship between tanδ and specific modulus of elasticity (E'/ρ) explained only half of the variations. Deviations from this trend were correlated to extractives content, yet effects were not directly quantitative. Damping deviations were also correlated to colour and moisture-related properties, especially so with fibre saturation point. * By taking into account a combination of moisture-related properties, colour - or extractives content, and the "standard" relationship between tanδ and E'/ρ, we could propose simple predictive models which explain up to 89% of observed variations in tanδ between 48 species.
ISSN: 1286-4560

hal-00808338
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00808338
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00808338/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00808338/file/Physico-chemical_indicators_Bremaud_al.pdf
DOI : 10.1051/forest/2010032

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag/EDP Sciences
Résumé : International audience
Background : This study examines the radial trend in wood stiffness of tropical rainforest trees. The objective was to determine if the type of growing environment (exposed plantation or dense primary forest) would have an effect on this radial trend. Methods : The axial elastic modulus of wood samples, representing a pith to bark cross-section, of six trees from several French Guianese species (two of Eperua falcata, one of Eperua grandiflora, two of Carapa procera and one of Symphonia gloubulifera) was measured using a dynamic "forced vibration" method. Results : Primary forest trees were observed to have a decrease in wood stiffness from pith to bark, whereas plantation trees, from the same genus or species, displayed a corresponding increase in wood stiffness. Juvenile wood stiffness appears to vary depending on the environment in which the tree had grown. Conclusion : We suggest that the growth strategy of primary forest trees is to produce wood resistant to selfbuckling so that the height of the canopy may be obtained with the maximum of efficiency. In contrast, the growth strategy of the trees growing in an exposed plantation is to produce low-stiffness wood, important to provide flexibility in wind. Further experiments to study the behaviour of more species, with more individuals per species, growing across a range of physical environments, are required.
ISSN: 1286-4560

hal-00644335
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00644335
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00644335/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00644335/file/McLean_al.pdf
DOI : 10.1007/s13595-011-0085-z