Small specimens of spruce wood with different degrees of delignification were studied using in-situ tensile tests and simultaneous synchrotron X-ray diffraction to reveal the effect of delignification and densification on their tensile properties at relative humidities of 70–80 %. In addition to mechanical properties, these analyses yield the ratio of strains in the cellulose crystals and in the bulk, which reflects the stress-transfer to crystalline cellulose. |