Toona ciliata M.Roem.: Effect of heat treatment on shrinkage and swelling

Abstract

The attempt made to study the shrinkage and swelling (longitudinal, radial and tangential) of thermally modified wood of Toona ciliata at different temperatures (80, 120, 160 and 200°C) and durations (2, 4 and 6 hours) in vacuum oven. The maximum value of swelling in transverse plane (4.81%), radial plane (4.06%), tangential plane (4.81%) and volumetric swelling (17.76%) were recorded at control, while minimum value of swelling in longitudinal plane (0.57%), radial plane (2.72%), tangential plane (3.34%) and volumetric swelling (5.22%) were recorded at 200°C. Among different temperatures the maximum value of shrinkage in transverse plane (0.61%), radial plane (3.62%), tangential plane (3.84%) and volumetric shrinkage (8.49%) were recorded at control. While the minimum value of shrinkage in transverse plane (0.27%), radial plane (2.54%), tangential plane (2.69%), volumetric shrinkage (0.89%) were recorded at 200°C.