Bending creep of Maritime pine wood (Pinus pinaster Ait.) chemically modified

Abstract

The long-term performance of a structural member is determined by its durability and deformation with time. The bending creep behaviour of modified wood was assessed experimentally over a period of 35 days (840 hours).Four chemical modification processes were used: 1,3-dimethylol-4,5-dihydroxyethyleneurea (DMDHEU), mmethylated melamine formaldehyde resin (MMF), tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and amid wax (WA). Wood stakes with 20 . 10. 200 mm RTL dimensions of Portuguese Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) from sapwood part of the stem were used for evaluated the primary creep. Experiments were conducted at bending stresses amounting to 0.1, 0.2, 0.4 of the mean immediate wood bending strength obtained at equilibrium moisture content (EMC). Applying the same stress level (SL, 0.2), wood creep was also determined at the constant low and high moisture content.As results: Between low and medium SL (8 and 16 N/mm 2 ), unmodified wood at indoors conditions did not show any effect in the creep factors (k c ). However, at high SL (35 N/mm 2 ) a slight increase (not significant) in the k c was found. It seems that the k c was nearly independent of the SL.In the lumen fill modification (TEOS and wax), the deposited material has not affected the creep behaviour under various SL.The cell wall modification (with DMDHEU and MMF resins) did not show any differences in the k c for low and medium SL (8 and 16 N/mm 2 ). However, resin modification under high SL (35 N/mm 2 ) has shown a significant reduction related to unmodified wood. Between both types of resin (DMDHEU and MMF) and levels of modification (WPG), significant effect was not found.At saturated conditions, lumen fill modification (TEOS and wax) did not show any effect on creep. In the cell wall modification (DMDHEU and MMF resin), significant reduction was recorded due to the embrittlement effect imparted by the modification (deposit of resin in the cell wall).