Steel vs Wood
Steel and Wood are genuine alternatives to one another — a choice somebody actually makes — and differ on 2 measured properties, density most clearly.
Steel vs Wood
These are different kinds of thing (alloy, material). Fewer properties mean the same thing across both, so a like-for-like reading may not be available.
Steel
Iron with a controlled, small proportion of carbon — the most-used engineered material in the world.
Wood
A cellular composite of cellulose and lignin — the only major structural material that is grown rather than extracted.
| Property | Steel | Wood |
|---|---|---|
| Density | 7.75–8.05 g/cm³ higher | 0.16–1.2 g/cm³ |
| Electrical conductivity Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | 6.99 MS/m | Not known |
| Melting point Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | 1370–1510 °C | Not known |
| Tensile strength One of these is a directional measurement (along the grain) and the other is not. The comparison holds only in that direction. | 400–2000 MPa higher | 40–200 MPa |
| Thermal conductivity Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | 15–54 W/(m·K) | Not known |
Choosing between them
Wood is recorded as a substitute for Steel — lower environmental impact, lighter.
What it gives up: Spans less, burns, and varies from piece to piece in a way an engineer must design around.
In this application, on the evidence cited above.