Characteristics of hot-compressed poplar wood boards

Abstract

The influence of thermal modification by hot-compressing was investigated relative to the physical, mechanical, anatomical, crystallinity, and colour characteristics of poplar wood boards. The boards were modified by a hot-compressed method under various temperature stages. The physical and mechanical properties of hot-compressed poplar wood increased with increased pressing temperature. Likewise, the highest crystallinity index (68.7%) of X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses was found in the samples pressed at 210 °C. Microscopic investigation, revealed that there were some structural deformations in early and late wood, annual ring, etc., of the compressed samples at 170 °C, 190 °C, and 210 °C. In a colour measurement test, it was determined that samples had different colour values in terms of temperature increase. The results achieved in this study demonstrated that the physical and mechanical properties of hot-compressed boards improved with increased press temperature. As a result, a thermal compression method could be preferred to advance end-usage features of low-density wood materials produced from fast-growing tree species like poplar, Douglas fir, spruce, yellow pine, eucalyptus, etc.