ABSTRACT
This study investigated the effect of thermal treatment, employed under two treatment conditions on mechanical properties of wood of Pinus taeda L. and Eucalyptus grandis W. Hill ex Maiden. From each species, three 25-year tress were sampled, and from each one, it was taken the first 2-meter long log, which was obtained from two boards of size 7,0 x 20,0 cm (thickness x width respectively) diametrically opposite from where 30 specimens were saw for each treatment. At the first one, called the combined one, the woods were subjected to heat treatment by autoclaving at 130 / ± 3°C and pressure of 2 kgf / cm ² for 3 hours and, after a conditioning period, subjected to heat in an electric oven at 160 / ± 1°C for the same period. The second treatment consisted only of heat treatment in oven. It was also evaluated the pieces of wood without treatment (control). The mechanical properties were evaluated by means of tests for determining the modulus of elasticity and rupture in bending, maximum resistance to compression parallel to the grain and Janka hardness according to ASTM D 143 (1995), and the impact resistance according to ABNT NBR 7190 (1997). For Pinus taeda wood, it was observed that treatment in an oven gave the worst outcomes, both due to the reduction in the values of supported load of a greater number of mechanical properties evaluated, but also as compared to the lowest increments in resistance when it was observed an increase to the same ones with heat treatment. In Eucalyptus grandis, the combined treatment decreased the greatest number of mechanical properties of wood.
Keywords:
heat treatment; mechanical properties; Pinus; Eucalyptus
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