  The anisotropy of wood within the radial-tangential (RT) growth plane has a
major influence on the cracking behavior perpendicular to grain. Within the
scope of this work, a two-dimensional discrete element model is developed,
consisting of beam elements for the representation of the micro structure of
wood. Molecular dynamics simulation is used to follow the time evolution of the
model system during the damage evolution in the RT plane under various loading
conditions. It is shown that the results are in good agreement with experiments
on spruce wood, and that the presented discrete element approach is applicable
for detailed studies of the dependence of the micro structure on mesoscopic
damage mechanism and dynamics of crack propagation in micro structured and
cellular materials like wood.
