Wood–Water Relations of Thermally Treated Pleated Beech and Oak Wood

Németh, Róbert and Báder, Mátyás and Horváth, Bíbor Júlia and Bak, Miklós (2026) Wood–Water Relations of Thermally Treated Pleated Beech and Oak Wood. FORESTS, 17 (9). No. 1049. ISSN 1999-4907

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Abstract

Pleating (20% compression) is a thermo-hydromechanical modification that improves wood pliability but markedly increases longitudinal dimensional instability. This study evaluates the combined effects of pleating, fixation (maintaining the compressed state for 5 h), and subsequent thermal treatment (160 and 200 °C) on the wood–water relations of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.). Density, equilibrium moisture content, swelling, shrinking, anisotropy, and anti-swelling efficiency were determined over two soaking–drying cycles. Thermal modification substantially reduced equilibrium moisture content from approximately 10.3%–10.4% in untreated wood to 7.8%–8.0% at 160 °C and 4.9%–5.0% at 200 °C. In contrast, mechanical modification largely mitigated the density loss caused by thermal treatment. Although pleating and fixation greatly increased longitudinal dimensional changes, thermal treatment effectively compensated for this effect. Treatment at 200 °C provided the greatest dimensional stability but was accompanied by more extensive chemical degradation. The results demonstrate that combining pleating with moderate thermal treatment may offer an effective, chemical-free approach to improving the dimensional stability of compressed hardwoods.

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