THE RESPONSE OF SOUTHERN RED OAK (QUERCUS RUBRA) CONDITIONED TO HIGH RELATIVE HUMIDITY AFTER DRYING BY THREE METHODS

摘要

The moisture response of 15 southern red oak (Quercus rubra) specimens to high humidity environment was investigated by convection oven, vacuum oven and air-drying methods. Longitudinal, tangential and radial shrinkage, specific gravity and near fibersaturation point moisture contents (near-Mj) were determined, A general trend was found that the vacuum-dried samples showed more shrinkage compared to the oven-dried samples. The near-Mfwas statistically higher for air-dried samples compared to the oven- and vacuum-dried samples. There was no statistical difference between the oven- and vacuum-dried samples. Additionally, the variation in air-dried near-Mj was greater than the other two treatments while vacuum-dried near-Mf did not significantly varyfrom oven-dried near-Mf.