Anatomical Changes of Kekabu Wood (Bombax ceiba L.) Due to Mechanical Densification

Abstract

Kekabu is a trade name of Bombax ceiba L. wood, which is popularly known as kapok or randu wood. It is formerly named Gossampinus malabarica DC. Merr. and belongs to family Bombacaceae. In some area kekabu wood is mixed in consignments that are mainly comprising wood of Durio spp. and traded as 'durian wood'. Kekabu's heartwood is not clearly demarcated with its white yellowish sapwood. Wood texture is smooth and even, so that clean yellowish kekabu wood appearance is potentially developed as luxury timber. However, kekabu is a lightweight wood. The average density is about 0.30 g/ cm' that ranges from 0.12 to 0.51 g/cm3 (Oey, 1990). Due to its low density, kekabu wood has not been utilised as furniture as well as construction materials, making it traded cheaply in local market (Ba and Nghia Tin, 1998). Density is the weight of substances per unit of volume. In this case, wood density is the weight of wood cell components that build wood structure per unit of volume. It has a positive relation to the thickness of the wood cell wall and is influenced by variation in the relative proportions of different cell types and their dimensions in wood material (Koehler, 1924;Jane, 1970). In a piece of wood, for example, higher density wood has thicker cell walls.

Anatomical Changes of Light Coconut Wood (Cocos nucifera L.) Due to Steam-Press Densification

“…Densification on light coconut wood is similar to that of studying carried out on less dense conventional wood. Krisdianto and Balfas (2005) reported that anatomical changes of Kekabu (Bombax ceiba L.) wood, which was caused by steam-pressure densification, reduced void volume and improved density of light Kekabu wood. The anatomical changes of Kekabu wood depend on grain orientation of the wood samples.…”

From Natural Woods to High Density Materials: An Ecofriendly Approach

“…Table 2 shows the average increase values of the two different woods after the densification processes. The values found in the available literature are in the range of +25% and +135% [13,15,16]. During the delignification and densification processes, the wood sample colors increasingly turned towards darker shades.…”

“…Observing the material from the external side of the specimen, it is almost impossible to notice the presence of fibers even at higher magnifications. This homogenous conformation is provided by the collapse of the cellular structure [15,16]. SEM images of all samples after densification process are reported in Figure 4.…”

“…These two woods differ from each other because of the different percentages of lignin, cellulose, density, and mechanical properties. Mechanical and physical properties of untreated fir and larch wood are known in the literature (e.g., traction resistance, compression resistance, aging, humidity adsorption) [14,15]. The woods deriving from silver fir and red larch are two of the principal types of wood produced in Italy.…”

Modified Densification Process for Increasing Strength Properties of Pine and Gmelina Wood from Community Forests

“…The effectiveness of wood densification mainly depends on treatment conditions, the wood species, and initial treatment, all of which can be modified (Wahyudi, 2013). Densification has been reported to be suitable for fast-growing species such as Agathis alba (Sulistyono et al, 2003), Ceiba pentandra (Krisdianto and Balfas, 2005), Cocos nucifera (Krisdianto, 2006), Enterolobium cyclocarpum, Maesopsis eminii, and Durio sp. (Ratih et al, 2009), as well monocotyl such as oil palm (Hartono et al, 2016).…”