Thermal properties of wood: measurements by transient plane source method in dry and wet conditions

Abstract

Increasing use of wooden material in new constructions and retrofit activities push to a deeper comprehension of properties and specifically thermal properties of different wood species. On one side wooden products on the market are accompanied by few and generic information on the other side analysis of literature confirms a lack of experimental data on thermal conductivity of wood species grown in Italy. In this paper some species of softwood like spruce and larch, and hardwood, like elm, oak and ash are analysed and their thermal conductivities as a function of the equilibrium water content are evaluated by the use of a transient plane source. Results are in line with literature values and, in general, conductivity augments with water content increasing. The relationship between water content and conductivity exploited a linear behaviour for all species.