The Fracture Mechanics of Plant Materials

Zhuoping Shao received his B.S. degree (1982) in Mechanics from Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China. He obtained his M.S. degree (1999) in Wood Science and Technology and Ph.D. (2009) in Forestry Engineering at Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei. He is currently a full professor at the School of Forestry and Landscape, Anhui Agricultural University, executive director of the Old and Famous Tree Branch of Chinese Society of Forestry, vice chairman of Anhui Forestry Industry Association, and executive director of Anhui Mechanics Association. Prof. Shao is a respected expert on wood science and technology, and has extensively studied the mechanical properties of wood and bamboo over the past decades. His research mainly focuses on the fracture problems of plant materials, mechanics of biomaterials, rheological mechanics of wood materials, and mechanics of trees. He has authored one book and more than 70 peer-reviewed research papers in prestigious international and national journals.

Introduction to the application of the Fracture Mechanics in wood and bamboo.- Mechanical characteristics and stress-strain relationship of wood structure.- Fracture of wood along grain.- Transverse fracture of wood.- Finite element analysis of wood crack tip stress field and prediction of the crack propagation direction.- Fractal features and acoustic emission characteristics of wood fracture.- Mechanical characteristics of bamboo structure and its components.- Interlaminar fracture properties of bamboo.- Modeling on the toughness fracture and energy absorbing mechanism of biomaterial — bamboo (Phyllostachs pubescens).