Dimensional changes of extracted and non-extracted small wood specimens of black locust ( Robinia pseudoacacia L.)

Abstract

From straight grained heartwood of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.), specimens, 3 cm×3 cm in cross section and 0.5 mm (or 10 mm) in axial direction, were cut and used for the determination of dimensional changes and the rate of tangential swelling. Mean radial, tangential and axial shrinkage was 5.30%, 6.67% and 0.16%, respectively, while the coefficient of anisotropy was 1.26. Half of the specimens for the determination of the rate of tangential swelling were extracted for 48 h with distilled hot water. The tangential dimensional change and the time taken to attain half maximum swelling in air-dry and oven-dry specimens were assessed according to a common technique. Extractive removal resulted in an increase of the total magnitude of tangential swelling in both air-dry and oven-dry specimens. However, no significant differences in time taken to attain half maximum swelling between air-dry and oven-dry specimens were observed after extraction. The rate of tangential swelling was lower in air-dry specimens than in oven-dry specimens after 30 min of immersion in water when were non-extracted and after 5 min of immersion in water when were extracted. Extracted air-dry specimens had a greater rate of tangential swelling than non-extracted air-dry specimens and the same occurred for oven-dry specimens. Extraction resulted in a higher diffusion coefficient for air-dry specimens. The diffusion coefficient calculated for non-extracted air-dry specimens (0.901×10−4 cm2/min) showed that black locust is a difficult species to impregnate.