• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.216-220
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• 2013

The phase separation in Wood Flour-Polymer Composite (WPC) was investigated and the reasons for change in mechanical properties with the content of wood flour were explored. The wood flour-polypropylene composite samples with different wood flour contents were prepared. From differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermograms of WPC samples, the trend of crystallinity and melting temperature ($T_m$) were analyzed. The crystallinity and melting temperature increased and then decreased as the content of wood flour increased. From these results, it was confirmed that at the low wood flour content the wood flours were dispersed into the polypropylene matrix but at the high wood flour content, the phase separation between polymer and wood flour phases appeared. The tensile strength of WPC samples was continuously decreased with the increase of wood flour content. At a low wood flour content, the low interfacial bonding and the decrease in crystallinity were the main reasons for the decrease in tensile strength with the increase of wood flour content. At a high wood flour content, the decrease in tensile strength resulted from the interfacial defects between the polymer and wood flour phases. The impact strength of the WPC sample showed the maximum behavior with the content of wood flour. At a low wood flour content, the impact strength was enhanced owing to the decrease in brittleness, which results from the decrease in crystallinity. At a high wood flour content, however, the impact strength decreased due to phase separation.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.444-455
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• 2017

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of panel density and resin content on properties of medium density fiberboard (MDF) to obtain some insights on MDF properties as a function of panel density and resin content. MDF panels with different panel densities such as 650, 700, 750 and $800kg/m^3$ were manufactured by adjusting the amount of wood fibers in the mat forming. MDF panels were also fabricated by spraying 8, 10, 12, and 14% of urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins onto wood fibers in a drum-type mechanical blender to fabricate MDF panels with a target density of $650kg/m^3$. As the panel density and resin content increased, the internal bonding (IB) strength of MDF panel consistently increased. Modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE) and screw withdrawal resistance (SWR) had a similar trend to the IB strength. In physical properties, thickness swelling (TS) and water absorption (WA) decreased with an increase in both panel density and resin content. In addition, the formaldehyde emission (FE) which increased as the panel density and resin content became greater. In overall, the panel density of MDF had more significant effect than the resin content in all properties of MDF panels, indicating that it was better to adjust the panel density rather than the resin content for MDF manufacture.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.58-65
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• 1995

The possibilities of the estimation of the moisture content(MC) for sitka-spruce (Picea sitchensis Carr.) by measuring density have been investigated. The method is based on the relationships between the wood density and moisture content of wood expressed by Equations (8)~(9). The purpose of this study is examining the estimation of the moisture content of wood by density and the variation of moisture content with annual ring width of wood. The following conclusions were obtained; 1. This method is very convenience because of the average moisture content of wood can be obtained by a simple estimation. This estimation can be made from the easy measurement of the weight and volume of wood. 2. Coefficient of determination between the experimental MCs and theoretical MCs which is calculated by the oven-dry densities of each specimens and Equations (8), (9) is 0.98. This Correlation is very remarkable. Therefore the model Equations on the estimation of moisture content by wood density was available. 3. Relationship between experimental MCs and theoretical MCs which is estimated by average oven-dry density of total specimens showed positive correlation(Fig.2). But from the Fig.4. we can concluded that the number of specimens is two groups. This phenomenon is considered that the variation of MC by the annual ring width from the specimens' observations. Consequently, the MCs of wood by density, is likely to be successful method. can be estimate using by the average oven-dry densities divided with the annual ring widths of wood.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.110-123
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• 2019

This work was conducted to examine the relationship between lignin content and the durability of larch (LAR) pellets. LAR sawdust was immersed in tap water (TW), sulfuric acid (AC) and sodium hydroxide (AK) solutions, and then the immersed sawdust was used for pellet fabrication. Klason lignin (KL) content of the immersed LAR, contents of soluble lignin (SL) and monomeric sugars liberated from the immersion of LAR, and durability of LAR pellets were measured. KL content decreased as the concentration of AC and AK solutions increased, but glucose content increased with increase in AC and AK concentration. Durability of wood pellets fabricated using non-immersed LAR sawdust was the highest, followed by those made using TW-, AK- and AC-immersed sawdust. LAR pellets became more durable as the concentration of KL and SL increased, but a significant positive correlation was found only between pellet durability and KL content. Through the fluorescent microscopic observation and SEM-EDX analysis, it was verified that lignin content of non-immersed LAR pellets was higher than that of AC- and AK-immersed LAR pellets. These results suggest that lignin might contribute to an increase in inter-particle bonding in wood pellets.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.2 s.130
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• pp.40-55
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• 2005

This study was carried out to discuss the feasibility of wood and plastic wastes as the raw materials for wood particle-plastic composites. For this purpose, composites were manufactured from coarse and fine wood particles and polypropylene fibers by nonwoven web process. And the effect of wood particle size on the performance of the composites were analyzed according to ASTM D 1037-93. In the physical properties of composites, water absorption decreased with the increase of target density and polypropylene fiber content. And the composites with fine wood particles appeared to have slightly lower water absorption than those with coarse wood particles. Thickness swelling did not vary significantly with the increase of target density but increased with the increase of wood particle content. And the composites with fine wood particles were significantly lower in thickness swelling than those with coarse wood particles. In the mechanical properties of composites, dry and wet MOR showed the increasing tendency with the increase of polypropylene fiber content and target density. Dry and wet MOE showed the increasing tendency with the increase of target density but only wet MOE exhibited the increasing tendency with the increase of polypropylene fiber content. Composites with fine wood particles appeared to be generally higher in wet MOR and MOE than those with coarse wood particles. In conclusion, composites with fine wood particles showed generally higher performance than those with coarse ones. Also, composites were significantly superior to control particleboards in the performance, especially in water absorption and thickness swelling.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.101-109
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• 2012

Wood composites are a hygroscopic material and have ability to exchange its moisture content with air. This study investigated the formaldehyde emission and moisture content change of four wood composites (particleboard (PB), medium density fiberboard (MDF), high density fiberboard (HDF), laminated HDF (L-HDF)) as a function of bake-out temperature and time. The composites were baked out for 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, 21, and 28 days at temperatures of $20{\pm}2$, $35{\pm}2$, and $50{\pm}2^{\circ}C$ in a dry oven. The moisture content change was used to determine the emission bake-out of the composites. Best bake-out time results were obtained with after 7 days all composites. Formaldehyde emission values of composites decreased with decreasing moisture content for both temperatures. The formaldehyde emission results of bake-out temperature 35 and $50^{\circ}C$ showed a similar tendency.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2019

Recently, various tourist products using hanok have increased rapidly. In the meantime, there is a steady demand for Hanok architecture. However, there are many negative perceptions about wood deformation and biodeterioration. Wood deformation and biodeterioration are related to moisture content. And the cracks occur in the process of removing water from the wood. Therefore, this study investigates the moisture content and cracks of dried hanok made of wood according to the drying method of wood. Drying methods include natural seasoning and artificial seasoning. There was a difference in moisture removal depending on drying period and method of natural seasoning. Drying time should be about 3 years for natural seasoning, so the moisture content of the wood is stable. In addition, the moisture absorption rate was low even in a humid environment where the voids were removed. However, natural seasoning is time consuming. Artificial seasoning, on the other hand, can quickly remove moisture from the wood and reduce porosity, but it is costly. Cracks that occur during the drying of wood may become problematic in appearance and stability due to wider spacing over time. As a result, the difference in the moisture content of the timber depending on the drying method and drying period of the wood was maintained even after the formation. These gaps appeared to be differences in moisture absorption in a wet environment.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.38-42
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• 1999

Average moisture content of 30mm-thick Korean red pine(Pinus densiflora) was estimated nondestructively and continuously using surface temperature rise by radiation heating and moisture gradient profile in wood. The surface temperature rises increased as surface moisture contents decreased and good relationships were found between surface moisture contents and surface temperature rises at three different feed speeds of 10, 20 and 30 m/min. Average moisture content could be described as a function of surface moisture content and wood thickness.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.108-116
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• 2010

This paper explains the effects of wood drying on treatability (as determined by water uptake) of Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora S. et Z.) at the sevenmoisture content (MC) levels above and below the fiber saturation point (FSP). According to the experimental results, it was found that water uptake (as the percentage of void volume filledwith distilled water, VVF%) was influenced by level of moisture content and percentage of void volume filled was improved effectively by kiln drying process. A significant relationship between moisture content and treatability was established. Permeability and liquid uptake were decreased above the FSP due to the effect of the less void space available in wood. Even though increased liquid uptake was observed at lower moisture content, no significant differences was observed moisture content below 20%. Therefore, this species need to be initially dried below FSP before treated with liquids. But drying moisture content below 10% might not be economical for the commercial purpose comparing drying the wood between 10 and 20% moisture content. The result of this study inferred that the treatability of pine wood can be improved by reducing the moisture content up to a certain level of 10~20% for allowing better performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.71-76
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• 1997

In this paper, it was described results of study on curing safety of molding meterial, about the variation of phenol resin contents, wood flour contents and moisture of wood flour, under the same condition. The experimental results are summarized as follows ; 1) When the curing temperature was high, the curing time was short in the case of 4～8wt% moisture of wood flour, but in the case of more than l2wt% moisture of wood flour, the curing time was long. 2) The curing time for curing temperature was more short when 6wt% moisture of wood flour than 4wt% moisture of wood flour. 3) The more wood flour content and moisture of wood flour content, the longer curing time and the more mineral filler content, the shorter curing time. 4) When the phenol resin content of main matrix increase, the curing time was short.