Properties Related to Drying Defects in Red Oak Wetwood

摘要

Bacterially infected wood, called wetwood, is often not visually apparent in logsor green lumber. When dried, lumber containing wetwood is prone to develop defects. The study had two objectives: (1) to show the potential of using moisture content, green and basic density, stress wave travel time, and tensile strength across the grain as indicators of bacterial infection in green lumber and (2) to evaluate the relative susceptibility of infected and uninfected lumber to checking during drying and the level of actual drying degrade. Bacterially infected and uninfected green, flat-sawn, 1-1/8-in.-thick red oak (Quercus spp.) lumber was used in the study. The relative susceptibility of infected and uninfected wood to check during drying was examined by comparing tensile strength across the grain.