IntroductionNowadays, scientific communities and industries are looking for alternative materials to the synthetic composites and metals, as these materials are non-degradable, limited in quantity, hazardous to nature and costly [1,2]. Hence many researchers are attracted towards natural materials (e.g. wood) for various applications, such as construction, furniture, decorative products, sports items and many others. Wood is one of the most important materials and widely used since the old era, as it is easily available, ecofriendly, light weight and low cost among many more benefits compared to others [3,4]. However, the hygroscopicity of wood is the major disadvantage which limits the usage of wood for many applications. There are different processes by which the hygroscopicity of wood can be reduced and many studies have been carried out in the literature on different processes [5,6].Heat treatment is the oldest and simplest method by which wood hygroscopicity can be effectively decreased. In addition, the dimensional stability, biological resistance and durability of the wood can also be improved [7][8][9]. It was showed that the heat treatment of wood not only reduced the hygroscopicity but also caused physical changes in the wood such as surface modification, which can significantly affect the adhesive bond
AbstractThe main aim of this work is to investigate the effect of heat treatment on the teak wood adherend bonded joints. Indian teak wood samples were kept in an oven at 150 °C for 2 h for the heat treatment process. The surface roughness values of the wood adherend before and after the heat treatment process were measured using a surface profilometer. Wettability of un-treated and heat-treated teak wood samples was determined with the contact angle measurements by using the sessile drop method. Single strap joints with un-treated and heat treated wood specimens were tested at ambient temperature. The results show that, there is a clear dependency observed in between the heat treatment and the surface roughness of the wood adherends. Wettability of teak wood adherend surface is degraded after the heat treatment process. An adverse effect of heat treatment of wood adherend on the bonding strength was observed, but the surface roughness was improved.