Abstract
The fracture energy of wood and root burl wood of thuya, coming from the forest of Essaouira (Morocco), was measured using a single edge notched specimen bending (SENB) test method. The variations along the longitudinal and transverse directions were studied using specimens taken from one radial section of thuya wood and on radial section of thuya burl, originating from two different trees. Thuya burl was more resistant than thuya wood to crack propagation in RL system (in the tangential plane). This difference is explained by the presence of dark growths, composed of cells with thicker walls that make the burl wood usually denser than thuya wood. Thuya burl was more resistant to crack propagation in RL system (tangential plane) than in TL system (radial plane), which is consistent with the radial orientation of the dark growths. The observed decrease of fracture energy along the longitudinal direction was explained by the progressive reduction of dark growth concentration.