Abstract
The $3{\times}3{\times}30\;cm^3$ sized specimens of Douglas-fir(Pseudotsuga menziesii) and western hemlock(Tsuga heterophylla) in this study were soaked in four fire-retardant solutions of ammonium sulfate, monoammonium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, and aluminium chloride for 1, 24, 72, 168, and 336 hours. Subsequently they were air-dried and burned at high temperature of ca. $1,800^{\circ}C$ and for short time of 5 minutes. This study estimated the relationship between the adsorbed chemicals and the residual weight ratio or residual bending strength of these partly burned lumbers. The results were as follows; 1) In average amount of chemical adsorption, diammonium phosphate showed the largest and aluminium chloride the smallest regardless of species but monoammonium phosphate was larger in Douglas-fir than that of western hemlock. 2) The amount of chemical adsorption was larger in western hemlock than Douglas-fir on the whole. 3) The amount of chemical adsorption was increased with the increase of soaking time but the rate of increase began to decrease at 200hrs. 4) Residual weight ratios showed no difference between species but showed differences among the chemicals treated i.e. monoammonium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, ammonium sulfate and aluminium chloride in turn from the largest to the smallest. 5) MOR values showed linear increase with the increase of residual weight ratios but showed no difference in species and chemicals respectively. 6) In the relationship between amount of chemical adsorption and MOR, only diammonium phosphate showed the curve of secondary degree with significance in Douglas-fir. 7) The MOE value of burned Douglas-fir lumber increased and showed significance of 99% as the adsorbed chemical amount increased, but among the chemicals only monoammonium phosphate showed significance. The MOE value of burned western hemlock lumber didn't show significance. 8) In only Douglas-fir, the correlation between adsorbed chemical amount and work to proportional limit showed significance in only monoammonium phosphate. And in both Douglas-fir and western hemlock, the correlation between adsorbed chemicals and work to maximum load showed significance in monoammonium phosphate.