Introduction

 

In the US and Canada more wood, measured either by weight or by volume, is used in construction than all other construction materials combined.^(p.vii)  It is multicomponent, hygroscopic, anisotropic, inhomogeneous, discontinuous, inelastic, fibrous, porous, biodegradable, and renewable.  Its already complex nature is further modified when used in products ranging from large glued-laminated members spanning hundreds of feet to small items such as a sheet of paper or a toy. Mechanics of Wood and Wood Composites, J. Bodig & B.A. Jayne, Krieger Publishing, 1993, pp. vii, 5, 291, 297, 299, 305.