Green moisture content, basic density, and shrinkage characteristics of the wood of Alstonia boonei, Antrocaryon micraster, <i>Bombax buonopozense, Dialium aubrevillei</i> and <i>Sterculia rhinopetala</i>

Abstract

A study was undertaken on the green moisture content, basic density and shrinkage properties for the wood of five Ghanaian species: Alstonia boonei (Sinduro), Antrocaryon micraster (Aprokuma), Bombax buonopozense (Akata), Dialium aubrevillei (Duabankye) and Sterculia rhinopetala (Wawabima). The overall green moisture content of the wood species ranged from a low of 51-52% (for D. aubrevillei and A. micraster) to a high of 177% (for B. buonopozense), while the overall mean basic density of the wood species ranged from a low of 366 kg/m 3 (for B. buonopozense) to a high of 738 kg/m 3 (for A. micraster). Green moisture content appeared to be inversely proportional to the basic density with a correlation coefficient of-0.962. Mean total tangential shrinkage was medium (4.6-4.7%) in A. boonei and B. buonopozense, and very large (9.0-10.3%) in S. rhinopetala, D. aubrevillei and A. micraster. Mean partial tangential shrinkage were small (2.7%) in A. boonei and B. buonopozense, medium (5.0%) in S. rhinopetala and D. aubrevillei, and large (6.1%) in A. micraster. Mean total radial shrinkage was medium (3.6-3.9%) in B. buonopozense and A. boonei, large (4.4%) in S. rhinopetala, and very large (5.3-6.3%) in D. aubrevillei and A. micraster; and mean partial radial shrinkage was medium (2.0-2.5%) in A. boonei, B. buonopozense, D. aubrevillei and S. rhinopetala, and large in A. micraster (3.5%). Except for A. micraster (~ 0.65%) total longitudinal shrinkage was typically less than 0.4%.

Drying characteristics and development of kiln drying schedules for the wood of Alstonia boonei, Antrocaryon micraster, Bombax buonopozense, Dialium aubrevillei and Sterculia rhinopetala

“…The wood samples for this study were obtained from the same logs that were used in a companion study on the 'green moisture content, basic density, and shrinkage characteristics of the wood of A. boonei, A. micraster, B. buonopozense, D. aubrevillei and S. rhinopetala' (Ofori and Brentuo, 2010a).…”

“…The clear boles of 2.5m lengths which were split into quadrants and numbered were transported to the laboratory. After taking off the three discs for the companion study (Ofori and Brentuo, 2010a), 25cm thick sample discs were thereafter cut from each of the remaining quadrant logs for this drying characteristics and kiln schedule determination studies.…”

“…The present kiln drying schedules in use in Ghana were developed for only the so-called primary species. Kiln-drying schedules for drying the wood species chosen for the companion study (Ofori & Brentuo, 2010a) and this study have so far not been developed. The only statements on drying provided by Upton and Attah (2003) on these species are:...' Alstonia boonei (Sinduro) air-dries easily...; Bombax buonopozense (Akata) dries quickly with little degrade...; Dialium aubrevillei dries slowly with care needed in air-drying to avoid splitting...; and Sterculia rhinopetala (Wawabima) should be air-dried slowly to minimise splitting...'.…”

Wood cells characterization and suitability appraisal of 7- and 9-year-old Cedrela odorata L. (Miliaceae) wood for paper-based products manufacturing

“…In the context of utilization, the variations in wood properties could present major concerns because should the variations in properties be high, they could pose engineering design and product behavioural challenges. Meanwhile, for C. odorata , information appears scarce with respect to its axial and radial variation in individual cell characteristics and proportions across different ages of the tree, as most studies have provided values covering the whole stem of the species and not for the various radial and axial positions of the stem (Fearnside 1997; Ofori and Brentuo 2005; Antwi-Boasiako and Ayimasu 2012; Christoforo et al 2019). The age factor in this study is also very vital since the growing raw material demand for various applications has necessitated investigations into the wood properties of young trees.…”