Influence of FA resin and Linseed oil preservatives on mechanical properties of Heartwood of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh.

Abstract

Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. called as River Red Gum, is a medium to large hardwood found adjacent to most of the inland rivers of mainland Australia. The durability of the wood is low compared to other hardwoods. There has been an increased interest in treatment of hardwoods with preservatives for wood protection and increasing the life of treated wood. Several studies were conducted on use of preservatives for hardwoods. This study was taken up to find out the influence of Resin and Linseed oil preservative treatments on the wood quality in heartwood of Eucalyptus camaldulensis. Wood samples treated with FA resin had higher values for MOE and MOR, which were 17.5 GPa and 124.7 MPa respectively, compared to Linseed oil treated samples. The results indicated that the uptake of Furfuryl Alcohol (FA) resin was 13.0 l m-3 and that of Linseed oil was 9.7 l m-3. From the study it may be inferred that the mechanical properties of heartwood of Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) could be enhanced by FA resin treatment for two hours.