Properties of thermo-mechanically treated wood from Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis

Abstract

This study aimed at evaluating the effect of thermo-mechanical treatment on properties of Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis wood. Two pressure levels (25% and 50% of the compression strength perpendicular to grain) were evaluated. The treatment was applied in a laboratory hot press in one-step or two-step modes for 50 minutes. In the one-step treatment, the total pressure was applied after the temperature of the center of the wood reached 170°C. In the two-steps treatment, half of the pressure was applied after the center of the wood reached 100°C, and the final pressure was applied when it reached 170°C. The weight loss immediately after treatment was equivalent to the wood moisture content, indicating that degradation of wood polymers did not occur. However, the treatments showed decreasing values of the moisture content, which were reduced from 12.3% to 9.8%. A moderate improvement on surface roughness was achieved, while wood wettability was highly reduced in all treatments, as determined by contact angle measurement. On the other hand, the treatment applied did not improve the wood dimensional stability, but all mechanical properties presented a trend of improvement.