Strength of balsa wood vs. strength of steel

[Hyperelastic]

@av8rmike

Wood, like any fibrous material, is stronger when loaded along the grain. However, in the other direction, the grains can easily separate and you lose all your tensile strength. The term for a material like this is “orthotropic”, where the properties change with direction, as opposed to “isotropic”. Steel and most metals are considered homogeneous and isotropic.

That’s an important observation. Usually, materials with orthotropic strength are used so that the stress is taken in the high-strength direction (e.g. wooden beams are cut with the grain running lengthwise instead of crosswise.)