Abstract
ABSTRACT The determination of moisture content gradients is one of the most important steps for assessing the quality of wood drying. The general aim of this work was to study the quality of air-dried teakwood boards according to the gradients of moisture content in thickness and length. Six representative boards (40 × 180 × 2,300 mm) were sampled from a stack air-dried under shelter, divided into 30 equal parts in length and measured with a resistance moisture meter, resulting in four treatments: two depths (1/4 and 1/2 thickness) and two surfaces (inner and outer) of measurement. As main results, we can conclude that the air-drying quality can be considered good, mainly for two reasons: i) the average moisture content gradients in thickness were comparable to those reported in literature for kiln-drying of less thick boards; ii) the range of average moisture content among boards (2.5 p.p.) was satisfactory for a drying process carried out without environment control. Length moisture content gradient was completely different from that reported in literature, in which no board tops had smaller moisture content than the parts comprehended in between the tops.
Highlights
Air-drying is a very common practice in Brazil, because of its low cost and favorable weather conditions along the year in the majority of country
According to Bergman (2010), the main purpose of air drying lumber is to evaporate as much of the water as possible before end use or prior to kiln-drying
According to the Indústria Brasileira de Árvores – IBÁ (Brazilian Industry of Trees) the area of teakwood in Brazil in 2013 was 88,270 hectares, which represented an increase of 31% compared to 2012 (IBÁ, 2014)
Summary
Air-drying is a very common practice in Brazil, because of its low cost and favorable weather conditions along the year in the majority of country. Air-dried lumber is considered to have worse quality than kiln-dried, due to the lack of control of the environmental factors, some low valuable products demand only this kind of drying. According to the Indústria Brasileira de Árvores – IBÁ (Brazilian Industry of Trees) the area of teakwood in Brazil in 2013 was 88,270 hectares, which represented an increase of 31% compared to 2012 (IBÁ, 2014). Native from Tropical Indian and Asian forests, and has been used in naval industry, building, furniture, flooring and decking (ABRAF, 2013). As these products demand prior drying, it is essential to understand teakwood drying behavior
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