The Effect of Exposure in Elevated Temperatures on Bending Properties of Wood

Temperature has important effect on mechanical properties of wood. These effect needs to be understood and taken into account in the structural use of wood. Furthermore, the effect of cooling after exposing to high temperature must be explained. In this study, the effect of temperature, exposure time, specific gravity, and cooling on bending properties were investigated. The boundary temperatures at which bending MOE and MOR reduced rapidly were approximately $200^{\circ}C$ and $150^{\circ}C$, respectively. This boundary temperature was nearly constant with independence of species(specific gravity), exposure time, and cooling. Above the boundary temperature, the effect of exposure time was increased with temperature and the reduction of bending MOE and MOR for Japanese Larch with relatively higher specific gravity was smaller than that of Hem-fir. The recovery of bending MOE and MOR after cooling was also more significant above the boundary temperature than below. The degree of cooling effect was larger for MOR than MOE. Consequently, bending properties of wood in elevated temperatures should be considered in terms of the boundary temperature, $200^{\circ}C$ for bending MOE, $150^{\circ}C$ for MOR, and these boundary temperatures must be considered an important factor. Furthermore, to evaluate the safety of structure, the recovery after cooling should be considered.