Characterization of the Clarisia Racemosa Wood Specie

This work aimed to characterize Clarisia racemosa (Oiticica-Amarela) wood specie, with the purpose of making its use feasible for structural purposes. The tests to obtain the physical and mechanical properties were carried out according to the premises established by Brazilian Standard ABNT NBR 7190 (1997), allowing the classification of such species belonging to strength class C60 (hardwood), as well as evaluating the possibility of estimation (linear, exponential, geometric and logarithmic models) of the physical and mechanical properties in function of the apparent density. The obtained values of the mechanical properties evidences the potentiality of the use of this species for structural applications. The results obtained from the regression models implied the possibility of estimating only the mechanical property compressive strength parallel to the grain (fc0) as a function of the apparent density ( ap, 12%).