Wood Sci Technol (2012) 46:4152 DOI 10.

1007/s00226-010-0387-6 ORIGINAL

Nondestructive evaluation of heat-treated Eucalyptus grandis Hill ex Maiden wood using stress wave method
Rosilei A. Garcia Alexandre Monteiro de Carvalho o Vicente de Figueiredo Latorraca Jorge Luis Monteiro de Matos Joa Wanessa A. Santos Rafael Fonseca de Medeiros Silva

Received: 14 April 2009 / Published online: 21 October 2010 Springer-Verlag 2010

Abstract The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of heat treatment of eucalypt wood (Eucalyptus grandis Hill ex Maiden) on the dynamic modulus of elasticity by using the stress wave nondestructive method and also to determine the air-dry density variation, weight loss and equilibrium moisture content following treatment. Heat treatments were performed at four different temperatures (180, 200, 215 and 230C) and for three different durations (15 min, 2 and 4 h). The results revealed a signicant reduction in air-dry density following heat treatment independent of temperature and time. A signicant weight loss was observed between and within treatments. The treatment at 230C for 2 and 4 h produced a weight loss of 20.5 and 26.5%, respectively, which was statistically different from other treatment conditions. The dynamic modulus of elasticity decreased by about 13% in the most severe treatment (230C for 4 h). Depending on the temperature and time, the equilibrium moisture content was signicantly reduced within the range of 4074%.

R. A. Garcia (&) A. M. de Carvalho J. V. de Figueiredo Latorraca Departamento de Produtos Florestais (DPF)/Instituto de Florestas (IF), Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), BR 465 km 07, dica, Rio de Janeiro 23890-000, Brazil Serope e-mail: rosileigar@ufrrj.br J. L. M. de Matos rio de Tecnologia da Madeira/Departamento de Engenharia e Tecnologia Florestal/Setor Laborato ncias Agra rias/Universidade Federal do Parana (UFPR), Rua Lothario Meissner 3400, de Cie nico, Curitiba, Parana 80210-170, Brazil Jardim Bota W. A. Santos R. F. de Medeiros Silva Departamento de Produtos Florestais (DPF)/Instituto de Florestas (IF), Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), BR 465 km 07, dica, Rio de Janeiro 23890-000, Brazil Serope

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Introduction Eucalypt is largely used in Brazilian paper and wood-based composite industries because it is a fast-growing, productive and easily adaptable tree species. However, its solid wood presents some disadvantages such as low durability, high swelling rate, low dimensional stability and serious drying problems, which cause limitations on use (Unsal and Ayrilmis 2005). Environmental pressures concerning the use of native timber tree species and Amazon Forest preservation in Brazil have motivated research studies on eucalypt solid wood and the use of environmentally friendly treatments. Heat treatment has been extensively studied in recent years because it aggregates some desirable properties to the wood and can be a desirable alternative for wood preservation because it does not use chemical components. It is well known that heat-treated wood has improved dimensional stability and natural durability as well as decreased equilibrium moisture content. Nevertheless, the heat treatment performance depends on the wood species and their properties, specically the chemical and anatomical characteristics, initial moisture content and processing parameters, i.e., temperature and time. Despite these advantages, heat treatment can also change the woods surface characteristics (wettability, gluing quality, surface hardness, roughness and color) and mechanical properties (Brunetti et al. 2007; Esteves et al. 2007; Garcia et al. 2008; Kamdem et al. 2002; Korkut and Guller 2008; Unsal and Ayrilmis 2005). In general, the values of all mechanical properties are reduced following heat treatment. Korkut and Hiziroglu (2008) studied the effect of heat treatment on the mechanical properties of hazelnut wood. They observed a drastic reduction in the Janka hardness and tension strength parallel to grain values while modulus of elasticity (MOE) loss was between 10 and 27% depending on treatment conditions. Yildiz et al. (2002) evaluated the MOE of beech wood (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) heat-treated at different conditions (130, 150, 180 and 200C for 2, 6 and 10 h). In general, the MOE decreased between 3 and 45% with increasing temperature and time, except for the treatment at 200C for 10 h, which showed an increase by about 17% when compared to untreated wood. Also, Santos (2000) observed an increase in MOE of heat-treated Eucalyptus globulus Labill. wood ranging from 57 to 71% depending on annual ring directions, when compared to untreated wood. Another study by Vital et al. (1983) reported a decrease in MOE of Eucalyptus saligna Smith wood heat-treated at 105155C for 10160 h. Shi et al. (2007) found a decrease in MOE of heat-treated spruce and pine ranging from 4 to 28% and an increase in MOE of heat-treated r, aspen and birch wood ranging from 15 to 30% when treated within temperature sets of 200 and 212C for 3 h. These different results on MOE can be explained by different conditions employed during heat treatment (initial moisture content, time and temperature of treatment, nitrogen or oxygen atmosphere) and by intrinsic characteristics of each wood. Although there are innumerable studies on heat-treated woods properties, generally the mechanical and physical properties following treatment are compared between different wood pieces (untreated vs. treated samples), which can give inaccurate results due to extreme wood heterogeneity.

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In this study, it was proposed to evaluate the dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOEd) of heat-treated eucalypt wood by a nondestructive method. Nondestructive evaluation methods (NDE) have been applied at different approaches for several material categories, i.e., standing tree, solid wood, laminates and wood-based composites, in order to determine their properties and characteristics by a simple and fast way (Bodij 2000). Repellin and Guyonnet (2003) used NDE to determine the MOEd of heat-treated beech wood with success. One of the principal advantages of NDE is the possibility to measure the wood properties before and after treatment on the same sample, which improves the sensibility of the test. In this context, the objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate the effect of heat treatment of eucalypt wood (Eucalyptus grandis Hill ex Maiden) on the MOEd in order to understand the heat-treated wood mechanical behavior and (2) to determine the air-dry density variation, weight loss following treatment and equilibrium moisture content of the wood under untreated and heat-treated conditions.

Materials and methods Material and heat treatment Six trees of 23-year-old Eucalyptus grandis Hill ex Maiden, planted with spacing of 2 9 3 m between trees and not subjected to silvicultural treatments, were obtained from Quimvale Florestal Ltda plantations located at South Region of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Boards of dimensions 2 9 0.12 9 0.05 m3 (length 9 width 9 thickness) were prepared from the logs by LPZ Artefatos de Madeira Ltda sawmill and air-dried for 2 months at the Wood Drying Laboratory of the Department of dica, Forest Products at Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro-UFRRJ (Serope Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil). Samples measuring 0.40 9 0.12 9 0.05 m3 (length 9 width 9 thickness) were then cut from the boards and heat-treated at a variety of high-temperature settings and different time periods. The heat treatment was performed in an ELETROlab oven, model 403, with 0.1 m3 capacity, and external and internal dimensions of 0.90 9 0.98 9 0.55 m3 and 0.50 9 0.50 9 0.40 m3, respectively, available at the Wood Drying Laboratory (Department of Forest Products, UFRRJ). The samples were heat-treated at 180, 200, 215 and 230C for 15 min, 2 and 4 h. The initial moisture content of the samples before heat treatment was between 12 and 14%. Before and after heat treatment, samples were conditioned at 20C and 65% relative humidity in a conditioning room until equilibrium moisture content was reached, and then stress wave measurements were made. The moisture content of samples was determined by using a moisture meter, Model M51 from MARRARI State, Brazil) at three equidistant points along the Automation (Curitiba, Parana sample length. The dimensions and weights of the samples were also measured before and after heat treatment in order to determine the sample air-dry density variation and weight loss (in percentage of initial weight).

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Stress wave time measurements A Model 239A Stress Wave Timer Electronic Unit from METRIGUARD Inc., Pullman WA, USA, available at the Wood Technology Laboratory of the Department of Forest Technology and Engineering at Federal University of -UFPR (Curitiba, Parana State, Brazil) was used to perform the sonic Parana propagation time measurements on the eucalypt wood before and after heat treatment. The stress wave timer (SWT) presents two accelerometers: the rst includes an impact device (pendulum ball-hammer) for initiating stress waves, while the second one is secured to the sample and detects the nal stress wave signal as shown in Fig. 1. To conduct the measurements, each wood sample was attached by start and stop clamps at a distance of 36 cm between the two accelerometers, then the impact device was started, and the stress wave time was read in microseconds (ls). Three replicated stress wave time measurements were performed on each sample in the longitudinal direction (along the wood bers). Finally, the MOEd was obtained using the following equations:  2 MOEd SWS q g 105 ; 1 and  SWS L t 106 ;
-2

where MOEd = dynamic modulus of elasticity, kgf m ; SWS = stress wave speed through the wood sample, cm s-1; q = wood sample air-dry density at the equilibrium moisture content, g cm-3; g = acceleration of gravity, 9,804 m s-2; L = distance between the two accelerometers, cm; and t = measured stress wave transmission time, ls. For solid wood, the NDE can be sometimes complicated due to some growth characteristics such as density, knots, irregular grains, reaction wood and cracks,

Fig. 1 Stress wave timer, Model 239A, from METRIGUARD Inc. (Pullman, WA, USA). Details of measurement device: A: start clamp; B: pendulum ball-hammer; C: stop clamp; D: stress wave timer, in microseconds; and E: wood sample

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which require some care before testing. Hence, a wood classication was performed before heat treatment in order to minimize the effect of these factors. Experimental design and statistical analysis The experimental design used in this study resulted in a total of 12 treatment combinations with two independent variables: temperature (four levels) and time (three levels), as shown in Table 1. Each treatment had six replicates resulting in 72 observations under each condition (untreated and heat-treated) for a total of 144 observations. Statistical analysis of repeated measures using the MIXED procedure of the SAS Institute Inc. (2003) was performed to observe the differences between dependent variables: sample air-dry density, weight loss (Wloss), dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOEd) and equilibrium moisture content (EMC) of the wood before and after heat treatment. Repeated measures analyses are applied to response outcomes measured on the same experimental unit under different conditions, such as in the experimental design of this study. This statistical analysis provides tests between treatments and within treatments and their interaction effects. The betweentreatments factor corresponds to a set of conditions (groups), where a dependent variable is measured on independent groups of samples, where each group is exposed to a different condition. The within-treatments factor corresponds to a set of conditions where a dependent variable is measured repeatedly for all samples across a set of conditions or trials. Therefore, in this study, 12 groups (12 different conditions of heat treatment) and two trials (before and after heat treatment) were used.

Table 1 Experimental design used

Independent variables of heat treatment Temperature ( C) 180

o

Time 15 min 2h 4h

Treatment combination 180oC (15 min) 180oC (2 h) 180oC (4 h) 200oC (15 min) 200oC (2 h) 200oC (4 h) 215oC (15 min) 215oC (2 h) 215oC (4 h) 230oC (15 min) 230oC (2 h) 230oC (4 h)

200

15 min 2h 4h

215 Number of replicates by treatment = 6. Number of observations by condition (untreated vs. heattreated) = 72. Total number of observations = 144

15 min 2h 4h

230

15 min 2h 4h

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Results and discussion Table 2 presents the descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) obtained for air-dry density, Wloss, MOEd and EMC of eucalypt wood under untreated and heat-treated conditions. Table 3 presents the results (F-values) of repeated measurements analysis of variance (ANOVA) for all variables. Table 4 presents the results (F-values) obtained for contrasts between two conditions (untreated vs. heat-treated) for each treatment. Statistical analysis revealed signicant effect within treatments, i.e., a reduction in air-dry density following heat treatment independent of temperature and time, as shown in Fig. 2. Previous studies also reported signicant decreases in wood density following heat treatment. For example, Unsal and Ayrilmis (2005) reported air-dry density decreases of 7 and 10% for Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn. wood treated at 150 and 180C for 10 h, respectively. Korkut and Guller (2008) found reductions in air-dry density of 3.87, 4.46 and 8.65%; and in oven-dry density of 3.01, 3.94 and 5.74% for red-bud maple treated at 180C for 2, 6 and 10 h, respectively. The results of this study here showed an average reduction in air-dry density of 8.65% across treatments. This effect can be attributed to the partial loss of bound water during the treatment; however, other factors are possibly involved in this phenomenon, i.e., losses of hemicelluloses (pentoses and hexoses) and extractives compounds (Kamdem et al. 2002; Seborg et al. 1953). No signicant difference in air-dry density was observed between treatments (groups) or for the treatment*condition (untreated and heat-treated) interaction, as presented in Table 3. For Wloss, a signicant difference was observed between treatments and within treatments under different conditions (Table 3). Indeed, the treatment at 230C for 2 and 4 h presented a Wloss of 20.5 and 26.5%, respectively, which were statistically different from the other treatment conditions (Fig. 3). A signicant mass loss was also observed by Esteves et al. (2007). These authors found mass loss (based on the ovendry weight) varying between 3.7 and 14.5% for Eucalyptus globulus Labill. wood submitted to steam heat treatment with temperatures of 190, 200 and 210C for 2, 6 and 12 h. Also, Brito et al. (2006) found mass loss of 5.19 and 9.68% for Eucalyptus grandis wood treated at 180 and 200C. Esteves et al. (2007) stated that eucalypt wood has a higher mass loss compared with pine wood due to higher hemicelluloses fraction, which is the rst structural compound affected by heat and also the most susceptible one to thermal degradation. The major cause of mass loss is the moisture loss; however, several authors have previously shown that it may also be partly attributed to the degradation of the hemicelluloses, which has been shown to correlate well with the renlampi 2008, Esteves et al. loss of strength and stiffness in wood (Borrega and Ka 2007). No interaction was found between treatment and condition for Wloss (Table 3). In general, wood thermal degradation induces reductions in mechanical properties due to the embrittlement of bers. In this study, there was a signicant reduction in MOEd by 13% for the most severe treatment (230C for 4 h), but not for the other treatments (Tables 2 and 4). According to the literature, heat treatment may have different effects on MOE depending on the species and timetemperature schedule. Several authors reported an increase or no change in MOE following heat treatment (Brunetti et al. 2007; Garcia et al. 2006; Santos 2000). For example,

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Table 2 Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations and coefcient of variation) for air-dry density, weight loss, dynamic modulus of elasticity and equilibrium moisture content of eucalypt wood under untreated and heat-treated conditions
Wloss (%)
Heat

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Treatment

Air-dry density (g cm-3) 10.1(4.0)[39.60] 11.1(2.2)[19.82] 12.1(3.6)[29.75] 8.9(1.4)[15.73] 11.4(3.4)[29.82] 15.2(2.8)[18.42] 12344(1 649)[13.36] 11706(2 350)[20.08] 11718(2 063)[17.61] 11836(1 284)[10.85] 13353(1 488)[11.14] 11166(2 696)[24.14] 12674(1 914)[15.10] 11399(783)[6.87] 13305(1 612)[12.12] 10404(5 118)[49.19] 11022(1 594)[14.46] 12316(3 638)[29.54] 12149(1 428)[11.75] 12552(1 628)[12.97] 10.3(1.4)[13.59] 14.8(3.5)[23.65] 14.6(4.4)[30.14] 10.7(3.3)[30.84] 20.5(4.0)[19.51] 26.5(1.5)[5.66] 12055(1 774)[14.72] 12202(1 962)[16.08] 11796(1 789)[15.17] 9799(4 024)[41.07] 11716(2 650)[22.62] 12341(2 762)[22.38] 11469(2 006)[17.49] 12329(2 052)[16.64] 15.1(3.2)[21.19] 13.9(2.3)[16.55] 13.5(3.2)[23.70] 13.4(3.7)[27.61] 14.4(4.8)[33.33] 14.0(2.1)[15.00] 15.0(2.6)[17.33] 14.1(3.3)[23.40] 15.0(3.3)[22.00] 12.9(3.8)[29.46] 14.7(3.6) [24.49] 12735(1 337)[10.50] 12624(1 244)[9.85] 15.1(2.7)[17.88]

Air-dry densityHeat (g cm-3)

MOEd (MPa)

MOEd

(MPa)

EMC (%)

EMCHeat (%)

DEMC

180C (15 min)

0.636(0.076)[11.95]

0.603(0.078)[12.94]

7.2(1.3)[18.06] 7.0(0.9)[12.86] 5.5(1.7)[30.91] 7.7(1.3)[16.88] 5.6(0.6)[10.71] 4.6(0.6)[13.04] 6.8(1.6)[23.53] 4.5(0.9)[20.00] 3.9(0.4)[10.26] 7.2(1.3)[18.06] 4.5(0.8)[17.78] 3.8(0.8)[21.05]

7.9(2.2)[27.85] 8.1(3.1)[38.27] 8.5(2.3)[27.06] 6.0(4.1)[68.33] 7.7(3.8)[49.35] 9.7(4.6)[47.42] 7.2(1.5)[20.83] 10.4(2.6)[25.00] 10.3(2.9)[28.16] 7.8(3.1)[39.74] 8.4(3.0)[35.71] 10.9(3.0)[27.52]

180C (2 h)

0.634(0.051)[8.04]

0.599(0.048)[8.01]

180C (4 h)

0.613(0.075)[12.23]

0.554(0.067)[12.09]

200C (15 min)

0.617(0.054)[8.75]

0.574(0.059)[10.28]

200C (2 h)

0.615(0.027)[4.39]

0.566(0.030)[5.30]

200C (4 h)

0.604(0.071)[11.75]

0.547(0.064)[11.70]

215C (15 min)

0.603(0.076)[12.60]

0.507(0.080)[15.78]

215C (2 h)

0.590(0.069)[11.69]

0.540(0.051)[9.44]

215C (4 h)

0.601(0.054)[8.99]

0.546(0.048)[8.79]

230C (15 min)

0.642(0.054)[8.41]

0.597(0.064)[10.72]

230C (2 h)

0.584(0.097)[16.61]

0.542(0.070)[12.92]

230C (4 h)

0.605(0.048)[7.93]

0.536(0.046)[8.58]

Dependant variables: Wloss, weight loss (in percentage of initial weight) following heat treatment; MOEd and MOEd Heat, dynamic modulus of elasticity before and after heat treatment, respectively; EMC and EMCHeat, equilibrium moisture content before and after heat treatment, respectively; DEMC, equilibrium moisture content variation. Standard deviation is given in round brackets. Coefcient of variation is given in square brackets

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Table 3 Results (F-values) of repeated measurements analysis of variance (ANOVA) for heat-treated eucalypt wood properties Source of variation Treatment Condition (untreated and heat-treated) Treatment Versus Conditiona Air-dry density 0.76NS 136.41** 0.76NS Wloss 2.15* 36.04** 0.33NS MOEd 0.53NS 0.35
NS

EMC 1.05NS 572.49** 1.39NS

1.96*

Dependant variables: Wloss, weight loss (in percentage of initial weight) following heat treatment; MOEd, dynamic modulus of elasticity; EMC, equilibrium moisture content. a represents the interaction between treatment and condition (i.e., untreated by heat-treated). NS not signicant. * Signicant at the 0.05 probability level. ** Signicant at the 0.01 probability level

Table 4 Results (F-values) obtained for contrasts between two conditions (untreated vs. heat-treated) for each treatment of eucalypt wood Treatment Linear effects of contrast between untreated and heat-treated conditions Air-dry density 180C (15 min) 180C (2 h) 180C (4 h) 200C (15 min) 200C (2 h) 200C (4 h) 215C (15 min) 215C (2 h) 215C (4 h) 230C (15 min) 230C (2 h) 230C (4 h) 5.56* 5.69* 16.17** 4.41* 10.66** 13.25** 24.57** 11.44** 13.42** 9.94** 8.22** 22.93** Wloss 1.40NS 2.17NS 2.86
NS

MOEd 0.00NS 2.16NS 1.56

NS

EMC 40.88** 41.57** 50.70** 23.35** 41.22** 58.86** 31.65** 70.77** 63.49** 39.68** 45.47** 80.12**

1.49NS 2.60NS 3.30NS 1.40NS 3.90NS 3.40NS 1.78NS 5.21* 10.16**

3.24NS 0.31NS 0.22NS 0.68NS 0.69NS 0.25NS 0.03NS 2.17NS 10.40**

Dependent variables: Wloss, weight loss (in percentage of initial weight) following heat treatment; MOEd, dynamic modulus of elasticity; and EMC: equilibrium moisture content. NS not signicant. * Signicant at the 0.05 probability level. ** Signicant at the 0.01 probability level

Brunetti et al. (2007) reported an increase in MOE of 21.4 and 4.7% for European cherry and walnut, respectively, both treated at four temperature steps (70C for 4 h; 100C for 6 h; 210C for 25 h; and 50C for 10 h). On the other hand, other studies reported a decrease in MOE of heat-treated wood of some species (Borrega and renlampi 2008; Esteves et al. 2007; Korkut and Hiziroglu 2008; Mburu et al. Ka 2008; Shi et al. 2007; Yildiz et al. 2002). Shi et al. (2007) reported a decrease between 4 and 28% in MOE for heat-treated spruce and pine, while MOE increased between 15 and 30% for r, aspen and birch wood when heat-treated within temperature sets of 200 and 212C for 3 h. Esteves et al. (2007) observed decreases of 5 and 15% in MOE of eucalypt wood treated in the temperature ranges from 170 to 200C. These contradictory results can be explained by the intrinsic characteristics of the wood of each species and the stability of its chemical compounds

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After Heat Treatment

Before Heat Treatment

0.800

Air-dry density (g cm-3)

0.700 0.600 0.500 0.400 0.300 0.200 0.100 0

o o o o o o o o o o o o 180 C 180 C 180 C 200 C 200 C 200 C 215 C 215 C 215 C 230 C 230 C 230 C 15 min 2 h 4 h 15 min 2 h 4 h 15 min 2 h 4 h 15 min 2 h 4h

Fig. 2 Mean air-dry density of eucalypt wood before and after heat treatment

Fig. 3 Mean weight loss of heat-treated eucalypt wood as a function of temperature and time

(cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin) under heat, as well as different process conditions in some cases. EMC was reduced signicantly after heat treatment within all treatments (Table 4 and Fig. 4). Depending on the temperature and time conditions, the EMC was reduced within the range of 4074% (Fig. 5). Although no signicant effect was observed between treatments, the equilibrium moisture content of heat-treated wood (EMCHeat) suggests a larger reduction with increasing temperature and time

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Before Heat Treatment

After Heat Treatment

20

Equilibrium moisture content, EMC (%)

15

10

o o o o o o o o o 180 C 180 C 180 C 200o C 200oC 200 C 215 C 215 C 215 C 230 C 230 C 230 C 4 h 15 min 2 h 15 min 2 h 4 h 15 min 2 h 4 h 15 min 2 h 4h

Fig. 4 Mean equilibrium moisture content of eucalypt wood before and after heat treatment

Fig. 5 Mean equilibrium moisture content reduction in heat-treated eucalypt wood as a function of temperature and time

(Fig. 5). The results of this study are similar to those reported by Akyildiz and Ates (2008) for oak (Quercus petraea Lieb.), chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.), calabrian pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) and black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold.) woods treated at 130,

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180 and 230C for 2 and 8 h. Their results showed a decrease from 3 to 50% in EMC with increasing temperature and time for all species studied. The EMC reduction indicates an improvement in dimensional stability of eucalypt wood following heat treatment. However, it is important to mention that the heat-treated wood samples showed some damage such as parallel-to-grain cracks and end checks, which could have been caused by the heat treatment itself or by the rapid increase in treatment temperature. Although chemical analysis was not the purpose of this study, it is important to mention a few points since these could give some explanation for the results in EMC. For example, several authors attributed the EMC reduction to degradation of hemicelluloses, which are the most hygroscopic polymer of wood. Kamdem et al. (2002) evaluated EMC and lignin content of heat-treated beech, spruce and pine and reported signicant reductions in EMC and lignin content suggesting the hemicelluloses degradation. Also, Rowell et al. (2002) stated that hemicelluloses degrades to produce volatile products and furan-type compounds, which polymerize under heat to produce water-insoluble polymers, thereby decreasing the hygroscopic nature of wood.

Conclusion The major results and conclusions regarding heat treatment of Eucalyptus grandis wood are given below: 1. 2. Heat treatment reduces air-dry density independent of temperature and time. There were signicant differences in weight loss for between and within treatments. The treatment at 230C for 2 and 4 h produced weight losses of 20.5 and 26.5%, respectively, which were statistically different from the other treatment conditions. There was a signicant reduction (13%) in the dynamic modulus of elasticity in the most severe treatment (at 230C for 4 h), but not in the other treatments. The equilibrium moisture content was signicantly reduced after heat treatment in all treatments. Depending on temperature and time conditions, the equilibrium moisture content was reduced within the range of 4074%. These results suggest that heat treatment may improve the dimensional stability of Eucalyptus grandis wood without signicantly affecting the dynamic modulus of elasticity, except for wood treated at 230C for 4 h. More research is necessary to evaluate the defects produced in the Eucalyptus grandis wood submitted to heat and the chemical modications occurring during the process.

3. 4.

5.

6.

References
Akyildiz MH, Ates S (2008) Effect of heat treatment on equilibrium moisture content (EMC) of some wood species in Turkey. Res J Agric Biol Sci 4(6):660665

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