Effect of heat treatment conditions on color change and termite resistance of heat-treated wood

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the color change of heat-treated wood made of Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis S. et Z.), and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl). The wood samples were heat-treated at 9 different treatment combinations of temperature (170, 180, 200, 220, and 230°C), and time (90, 120, 180, 240, 270 min.) set up by a response surface method. Wood color was measured using a colorimeter, and the samples were installed for evaluating the resistance of termite in the field test sites set up in Jinju. The lightness decreased with the increase of treatment temperature and treatment time. The color differences were evaluated by the method of National Bureau of Standards (NBS), and response surface models to predict the color change were fitted as a function of treatment temperature and treatment time. The R2 values of the fitted models of heat-treated Korean pine and lodgepole pines were 0.92, and 0.88, respectively, showing the potential way for the prediction of color changes. Severe damage was found from the samples after 5 months exposure in the field test site, which means that the manufactured heat-treated wood showed very low termite resistance.