Density as estimator of dimensional stability quantities of Brazilian tropical woods

Abstract

Wood is a material widely used in various sectors of construction, such as in structures and building components. The volume of wood extracted from tropical forests has reached a considerable amount, and this wood is marketed with popular names without prior characterization. Wood density is an easy property to measure, and its use as an estimator of other properties is very common in this sector. This study investigated the possibility of the estimation of important quantities in dimensional stability of Brazilian tropical woods by using the density at 12% moisture content, anhydrous density, and basic density. Testing the ability to estimate radial, axial, tangential, and volumetric shrinkage, anisotropy coefficient, coefficient of volumetric rate of volumetric shrinkage, as well as the rate of volumetric swelling using the densities above, with linear, exponential, geometric, and logarithmic models, the best determination coefficient was: R2 = 19.58%. The results were, in summary, that the variable density was not a good estimator of the dimensional stability of the wood.