Decay Resistance of Fire-Retardant Treated Wood

In this study, the Korean pine wood (Pinus densiflora Sieb. et Zucc) and Italian poplar wood (Populus euramericana Guinier) was treated with a mixture of monoammonium phosphate (MAP) and boric acid. Their usability as fire retardant and as decay-resistant construction and interior materials were evaluated by testing of chemicals, corrosion rate and absorption rate, weight loss and chemical contents. An experiment was performed to compare treated pine wood and Italian poplar wood. According to the results, Italian poplar wood had higher specific gravity and retention of chemicals than pine wood, and treated wood showed higher decay-resistance than untreated one. Weight loss was less in treated wood than untreated one because the degree of decay was lower in the former than the latter. Corrosion rate and absorption rate met the KS standard for wood preservative performance. The chemical contents analysis was carried out to determine the degree of decay and it was found that the preservative effect of chemical treatment was lower in Italian poplar wood than in pine wood.