Effect of Hardwood Vessels on Longitudinal Moisture Diffusion

Authors

  • Elvin T. Choong
  • Perry N. Peralta
  • Todd F. Shupe

Keywords:

Moisture diffusion, hardwood vessels, sorption isotherm, red oak, American elm, sweet-gum

Abstract

The hypothesis that the longitudinal moisture content profile follows the shape of the sorption isotherm under steady-state diffusion condition was confirmed. This phenomenon was explained in terms of the unrestricted flow of water vapor from the lumen of one vessel element to the lumen of the next vessel element. Despite the assumed high vapor transport efficiency of the vessels, other cell types were believed to contribute substantially to longitudinal moisture movement. The diffusion coefficients of three different hardwood species were found to vary with moisture content.

References

Bramhall, G. 1979. Sorption diffusion in wood. Wood Science12(1):3-13.nChoong, E. T., Y. Chen, J. D. Mamit, J. Llic, and W. R. Smith. 1994. Moisture transport properties in hardwoods. Proc. 4th IUFRO International Wood Drying Conference, Rotorua, New Zealand, pp. 87-94.nKoch, P. 1985. Utilization of hardwoods growing on southern pine sites. Vol. USDA, Forest Serv. Agriculture Handbook No. 605. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC. pp. 303.nPanshin, A. J., and C. De Zeeuw. 1980. Textbook of wood technology. 4th McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.nSiau, J. F. 1995. Wood: Influence of moisture on physical properties. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA.nSimpson, W. T. 1971. Equilibrium moisture content prediction for wood. Forest Prod. J.21(5):48-49.nSkaar, C. 1988. Wood-water relations. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, New York.nU.S. Forest Products Laboratory. 1999. Wood Handbook: Wood as an engineering material. General Technical Report FPL-GTR-113. USDA, Forest Serv., Forest Prod. Lab., Madison, WI.n

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Published

2007-06-05

Issue

Number 2 / April 2001

Section

Research Contributions

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