Energetic Investigation of Aging Effect on Mechanical Behavior in Wood by Means of XRD Measurement

In this study, it is aimed to consider whether the strain energy could evaluate the mechanical durability of wood. To investigate the aging effects on the mechanical properties of bulk wood and cellulose microfibrils in the cell walls of wood, XRD measurements were taken under tensile loading. Specimens were recent wood and wood used for 250 years (aged wood). Thermal modifications were further applied for additionally aging treatment of both specimens. The standardized strain energy of the bulk wood and cellulose microfibrils was exponentially reduced with increasing mass loss of specimens. The reduction degree of aged wood was smaller than that of recent wood. Using this phenomenon, it was proposed that the aging effect can be quantitatively evaluated.