Influence of Different Pretreatments on the Acoustic Properties of Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu et Cheng)

To modify the acoustic properties of dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu et Cheng), thermal, ultrasonic, and combined thermal-ultrasound treatments were employed in this work. The changes in the logarithmic decrement (δ), specific Young’s modulus (E’/ρ), and extractives content were examined. The results showed that thermal and ultrasonic treatments were both essential for a decrease in the logarithmic decrement (δ) and an increase in the specific Young’s modulus (E’/ρ) of dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu et Cheng). A superposition effect on decreasing of the logarithmic decrement (δ) was discovered after thermal-ultrasound combined treatment. The amounts of extractives, extracted by 95 °C distilled water, 1% NaOH solution, and benzene-ethanol solution, decreased after thermal and ultrasonic treatments. Moreover, there was a linear correlation between logarithmic decrement (δ) and extractives, in which extractives from 1% NaOH solution and 95 °C distilled water had a significant effect. Finally, dawn redwood samples treated with ultrasonic power at 340 W for 9 min at a thermal temperature of 200 °C were chosen as the optimal method in this research