Machinability Research of the Most Common Invasive Tree Species in Slovenia

Miran Merhar,Maks Merela,Dominika Gornik Bučar

doi:10.3390/f11070752

Abstract

This article investigates the quality of the machining surface of the five most common invasive tree species in Slovenia, i.e., black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.), boxelder maple (Acer negundo L.), horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) and tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima). The machining tests were made according to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D1666-17 standard, where the quality of the surfaces after planing, routing and turning were evaluated with visual assessment, and the area and profile roughness parameters were also determined on selected specimens. The results showed that boxelder maple, horse chestnut and honey locust can be machined very well in all the studied operations, with the best results in routing and a little less good by turning, whereas the tree of heaven had the best quality in planing, and the worst by turning. Among all studied tree species, the black locust had the worst quality in planing, but the quality at routing was very similar to other tested species. The research also showed that there is little or no significant relationship between the qualities of the various types of machining for tested tree species.

Highlights

The presence of the invasive tree species in our environment is a fact and demands concern regarding their impact on the ecosystem properties and functions, since the invasion of alien species reduces local plant species diversity
The research carried out determined the machinability of the most common woody, non-native invasive tree species in Slovenia
There are differences in the surface quality produced by different machining operations in the same tree species

Summary

Introduction

The presence of the invasive tree species in our environment is a fact and demands concern regarding their impact on the ecosystem properties and functions, since the invasion of alien species reduces local plant species diversity. Some of them were originally planted in parks and urban environments, but their growth eventually became uncontrolled, and nowadays they are considered as invasive species. The usability of these species is not well known, and most of them are considered as undervalued and underutilized [6,7], while some of them are often used as biomass for energy production [8,9]. The basic information concerning anatomy, physical-mechanical properties, machinability, gluing properties and durability has to be provided to use these woods in the most appropriate way in new (high value) products and in traditionally wooden ones

Methods

Results

Conclusion