Case Study of Anatomy, Physical and Mechanical Properties of the Sapwood and Heartwood of Random Tree Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco from South-Eastern Poland

Abstract

Oriental arborvitae is not fully characterized in terms of its microscopic structure or physical or mechanical properties. Moreover, there is a lot of contradictory information in the literature about oriental arborvitae, especially in terms of microscopic structure. Therefore, the sapwood (S) and heartwood (H) of Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco from Central Europe were subjected to examinations. The presence of helical thickenings was found in earlywood tracheids (E). Latewood tracheids (L) were characterized by a similar thickness of radial and tangential walls and a similar diameter in the tangential direction in the sapwood and heartwood zones. In the case of earlywood tracheids, such a similarity was found only in the thickness of the tangential walls. The volume swelling (VS) of sapwood and heartwood after reaching maximum moisture content (MMC) was 12.8% (±0.5%) and 11.2% (±0.5%), respectively. The average velocity of ultrasonic waves along the fibers (υ) for a frequency of 40 kHz was about 6% lower in the heartwood zone than in the sapwood zone. The dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOED) was about 8% lower in the heartwood zone than in the sapwood zone. These differences, both in the case of υ and MOED, were statistically significant. However, no statistically significant differences were found for the static bending strength (MOR, approx. 90 MPa), modulus of elasticity at static bending (MOE, approx. 4800 MPa), or compression strength parallel to the grain (CS, approx. 47 MPa) in relation to the wood zone (sapwood, heartwood).