Reaction kinetics approach in relation to the fatigue life of wood

To evaluate the mechanical durability of wood, it is necessary to evaluate the phenomenon of fatigue progress with respect to the cumulative load process over time. Fatigue life estimation by reaction kinetics along with energetics in fatigue strength analysis is proposed based on previous studies. In this regard, based on the reaction kinetics proposed by Eyring, Liu and co-workers derived the reaction rate model for sinusoidal load, whereas this study derived new reaction rate models for square wave. In order to validate the derived model, the fatigue life was estimated using the previous fatigue test results of wood. The results of the fatigue life estimation calculations using the derived reaction rate model confirmed that the estimated value of fatigue life generally matched well with the experimental values, though room for further examination is left in the interpretation of how the parameter included in the model relates to the wood species’ special quality, load conditions and so on. Thus, the possibility of a reaction kinetics approach to examine the fatigue life of wood was demonstrated.