Physical and Mechanical Properties of Heat Treated Daniella oliveri (Africa Balsam Tree) Wood

Aims: This work investigated the effect of thermal modification on some of the physical properties and mechanical properties of Daniella oliveri wood.

Study Design: The study design used for this experiment was 3 x4 Factorial experiment in Completely Randomized Design.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at the Federal University of Technology, Akure wood laboratory and the study lasted for 6 months.

Methodology: Wood samples were thermally treated at the temperature of 120, 140, 160 and 180°C, for different durations of 1, 1.5 and 2 hours in a muffle furnace. The planks were air-dried to reduce the moisture content and then machined into the required dimensions in the direction parallel to grain with a circular saw. Thirty-nine defect-free samples of dimensions 20 mm × 20 mm × 60 mm were prepared for dimensional stability and compression test, static bending tests and the hardness tests to make a total of 117 samples.

Results: The result showed that the average weight loss of the treated wood samples varied from 3.79% at 120°C for 1 hour to 7.51% at 180°C for 2 hours. The treatment led to reduction in density from 528 to 459 kg/m3 at 180°C for 2 hours. The heat treatment also led to reduction in water absorption and volumetric swelling of the treated samples. The mean value for Modulus of elasticity (MOE) ranges from 2.17x103 N/mm2 to 2.96 x 103 N/mm2 for the treated samples while the untreated was 2.22x103 N/mm2. Heat treatment brought about improvement in the maximum compressive strength and the Janka hardness parallel to the grain of wood samples. The value of compressive strength increased from 26.58 N/mm2 to 41.71 N/mm2 and hardness from 69.24 N to 75.5 N. It can therefore be concluded that thermal modification greatly enhanced the dimensional stability and mechanical properties of wood samples.