Strength of dried and re-moistened spruce wood compared to native wood

During the wood drying process, mechanical stresses and thermal conditions arise, which causes irreversible damage. Since drying of wood results in a general improvement of strength and elasticity, the negative drying effects are covered. In the present study, the mechanical properties of dried and subsequently re-moistened samples were compared to native wet wood. For oven dried/re-moistened macro-scale bending and compression strength a significant reduction of 16.5% and 15.0% was observed. Micro-scale specimens underwent a similar strength loss, i.e. 9.8% for tensile strength and 14% for compression strength. When the drying was performed at ambient temperature (20°C), no difference to native wood was observed in tensile testing, whereas a significant reduction of compression strength (10.0%) was found. SEM micrographs of tensile fracture surfaces of dried and re-moistened specimens showed a brittle and rather smooth transwall failure of tracheids, whereas native samples exhibited a more ductile character.