Upijanje vode toplinski modificirane norveške smreke

Thermal modification of wood has been commercially available for almost twenty years but the complete mechanism of improved durability is still not completely understood. It is known that the temperature and duration of the modification influences the properties of the final products. There are several potential reasons for the increased durability of the modified wood. In recent research in particular, water exclusion efficiency has been identified as one of the key mechanisms. In order to elucidate this presumption, specimens made of Norway spruce heartwood were thermally modified at 6 different temperatures (160 °C, 180 °C, 190 °C, 200 °C, 210 °C and 230 °C) for three hours according to the Silvapro® procedure. Control specimens were left unmodified. Three sets of tests were performed: (a) samples were soaked in water for 4 days and then positioned on load cells and allowed to dry until a constant mass was achieved; (b) short term water uptake was determined with a tensiometer and (c) wood-water interactions were verified using constant gravimetric moisture measurement during outdoor exposure. As expected, the degree of modification was reflected in the moisture content of the wood during testing. Short and medium term water uptakes correlated quite well with the performance of wood in outdoor applications. On the other hand, long term tensiometer measurements were not in line with either short term water uptake or outdoor measurements.Toplinski modificirano drvo dostupno je na tržištu već gotovo dvadeset godina međutim, potpuni mehanizam poboljšane trajnosti drva još uvijek nije sasvim razjašnjen. Poznato je da temperatura i trajanje modifikacije utječu na svojstva konačnog proizvoda. Nekoliko je razloga za povećanje trajnosti toplinski modificiranog drva. U recentnim istraživanjima učinkovito je odstranjenje vode identificirano kao jedan od ključnih mehanizama za poboljšanje trajnosti drva. Kako bi se razjasnila ta pretpostavka, uzorci drva srži norveške smreke toplinski su modificirani pri šest različitih temperatura (160, 180, 190, 200, 210 i 230 °C) tijekom tri sata prema postupku Silvapro®. Kontrolni su uzorci ostali nemodificirani. Provedena su tri ciklusa ispitivanja: a) uzorci su namakani u vodi tijekom četiri dana, zatim su postavljeni na senzor težine da se osuše do konstantne mase; b) kratkoročno upijanje vode određeno je tenziometrom i c) interakcije drva i vode provjeravane su stalnim gravimetrijskim mjerenjem sadržaja vode pri izlaganju uvjetima na otvorenome. Kao što se očekivalo, stupanj modifikacije ogleda se u sadržaju vode u drvu tijekom ispitivanja. Kratkoročno i srednjoročno upijanje vode dobro korelira s ponašanjem drva u vanjskim uvjetima. Nasuprot tome, dugoročna mjerenja tenziometrom nisu bila u skladu s kratkoročnim vezanjem vode ili s mjerenjem pri izlaganju uvjetima na otvorenome