Effect of Wet-Dry Cycles on Compressive Strength and Impact Properties of New Softwood Pallets

Abstract

Wood pallets are often put in circulation for several years. In a pallet’s lifetime it goes through several wet-dry cycles. In this study, softwood pallet specimens were compressed statically and impacted at different water contents through an accelerated drying process for three repeated wet-dry cycles. A static compressive strength test was performed along the grain of pallet stringers to avoid the effect of loadings in different grain directions. Instead of using the standard drop test from a drop tester, an incline impact test was performed to obtain more consistent impact accelerations. Impact data was recorded by a shock recorder to simplify the set up for the experiment. This study has found that there is no significant effect of the wet-dry cycles on static compressive strength and impact acceleration.