POSIBILITIES OF USING PAULOWNIA WOOD OUTDOORS

V Sloveniji v gradbene namene uporabljamo predvsem les iglavcev, ki pa predstavljajo več kot tretjino lesne zaloge v Sloveniji. Pričakovati je, da se bo delež iglavcev dolgoročno še zmanjševal. Zato nas je zanimalo, ali bi lahko les pavlovnije nadomestil uporabo smrekovine pri gradnji lesenih hiš, ostrešij in gradbeništvu in ali bi lahko topolovino in bukovino zamenjali v proizvodnji vezanih plošč. Poleg tega nas je zanimalo, ali navedbe reklamnih gradiv ponudnikov tega lesa držijo, da je hitrorastoča pavlovnija bolj odporna na glive kot druge drevesne vrste, ki smo jih uporabljali, ali ima zadovoljive mehanske lastnosti, ali je dovolj vodoodbojna in ali je dobro impregnabilna. Pri mehanskih lastnostih smo uporabljali les štirih drevesnih vrst: pavlovnije, topola, bukve in smreke. Pri izvedbi preizkusa tlačne trdnosti smo sledili ameriškemu standardu (ASTM D1037-99), pri upogibu trdnosti pa evropskemu standardu (DIN EN 310). Pri preizkusu odpornosti lesa na glive smo uporabljali štiri različne vrste gliv: belo hišno gobo (Antrodia vaillantii), navadno tramovko (Gloeophyllum trabeum), pisano ploskocevko (Trametes versicolor) in bukovega ostrigarja (Pleurotus ostreatus). Izpostavitev je trajala 12 tednov. Za določanje impregnabilnosti lesa smo uporabili baker-etanolaminski pripravek – Silvanolin in montanski vosek. Ugotovili smo, da les pavlovnije nima primerljivih lastnosti s smrekovino, zato je v celoti ne more nadomestiti, saj pavlovnija nima primerljivih mehanskih lastnosti. Proti glivam in vlaženju v izpostavljenih pogojih pa se obnese bolje kot smrekov ali topolov les.In Slovenia, primarily softwoods are used for construction purposes. They represent more than a third of wood stock in the Slovenian forests. It is expected that the share of softwood will decrease even more. So, we were interested if Paulownia wood could replace the spruce wood in building and construction applicationsand if Paulownia is a good substitute for poplar and beech wood in plywood manufacturing. In addition, we wanted to confirm or reject the statements in promotional materials from providers of this respective wood claiming that the fast-growing Paulownia tree is more resistant to fungi than other comparable wood species, such as spruce and poplar. Besides, we were interested in mechanical properties of water exclusion efficacy and impregnability. Mechanical properties were performed in four wood species: Paulownia, poplar, beech, and spruce tree. Experiment was performed according to the American ASTMD1037-99 standard (compression) and European DIN EN 310 standard (bending strength). In order to determine durability, wood was exposed to four different types of fungi, namely Antrodia vaillantii, Gloeophyllum trabem, Trametes versicolor, and Pleurotus ostreatus for 12 weeks. For determination of impregnation, copper-ethanolamine product-Silvanolin and natural wax were used. The data showed that mechanical properties of Paulownia wood are not comparable to the spruce wood, therefore, Paulownia wood cannot replace spruce wood completely, since Paulownia does not have comparable mechanical characteristics. But this respective wood species exhibit much better performance against water and wood decay fungi