Tropical wood · Africa
Erythrophleum ivorense wood
Erythrophleum ivorense (Erythrophleum ivorense, family Leguminosae) is a tropical timber from Africa. Dry, its Janka hardness is 2,930 lbf (13,033 N), and air-dry it weighs about 56 lb/ft³ (897 kg/m³). The figures are from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 407–408.
Other names, by country: Tali (Ivory Coast), Erun, Sasswood (Nigeria), Potrodom (Ghana), Kassa (Zaire), Muave (Zambia), Mwavi (Tanzania).
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, dry
- 2,930 lbf (13,033 N)
- Green: 2,320 lbf (10,320 N)
- As printed: “Janka side hardness 2,320 lb for green material and 2,930 lb for dry.”
- Air-dry density
- 56 lb/ft³ (897 kg/m³)
- Basic specific gravity
- 0.72 oven-dry weight, green volume
- As printed: “Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) about 0.72; air-dry density 56 pcf.”
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 8.6% tangential
- Radial 5.8%, volumetric 11.5%
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, Tropical Timbers of the World (Chudnoff, 1979 edition), the only published source read for this wood
Strength
Bending strength is the modulus of rupture (MOR); stiffness is the modulus of elasticity (MOE); crushing strength is compression parallel to the grain. The sheet collects these from published tests: it prints 4 data sets, from different tests and sources, so they can differ widely; all are shown, in the sheet's order, each at the moisture content printed beside it, never restated as 12%.
| Moisture | Bending strength (MOR) | Stiffness (MOE) | Crushing strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | 18,000 psi (124 MPa) | 1.93 million psi (13.3 GPa) | 10,300 psi (71 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 23,500 psi (162 MPa) | 2.24 million psi (15.4 GPa) | 14,100 psi (97 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 14,400 psi (99 MPa) | 1.53 million psi (10.5 GPa) | 8,100 psi (56 MPa) |
| 12% MC | 21,800 psi (150 MPa) | 2.46 million psi (17 GPa) | 11,800 psi (81 MPa) |
A dash means the sheet prints no value; none is filled in.
What the data sheet says
- Color, grain and texture
- Heartwood is red-, yellow-, or orange-brown, darkening on exposure, sometimes streaked; sapwood creamy-yellow, distinct. Texture coarse; grain interlocked or irregular; moderately high luster. MISSANDA
- Working properties
- Dry wood is very difficult to saw and machine, rapid blunting of tools, carbide-tipped cutters are suggested; works to a smooth finish and takes a high polish, turns well. Sawdust may cause nose and throat irritation.
- Durability
- Heartwood is rated as very durable and highly resistant to termite attack. Also described as resistant to marine borers.
- Uses
- Flooring, heavy construction, railway crossties, harbor and dockwork.
- Where it grows
- Widely distributed in tropical Africa from the west to east coast. The genus is found in evergreen, deciduous, and savanna forests.
Quoted from Tropical Timbers of the World, pp. 407–408, a USDA Forest Products Laboratory work in the public domain.
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for flooring with the species picker
Weigh erythrophleum ivorense against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.