Influence of Densification Treatment on The Morphology and Density Profile of Paraserianthes falcataria Laminas

Abstract

Fast-growing wood species have a limited range of applications due to their low density. Despite that, densification technology can be applied to improve its density. In this study, laminas from Paraserianthes falcataria, a low-density wood species, were subjected to viscoelastic- thermal compression (VTC), a densification treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of different pre-steaming durations in the densification treatment on the cell lumen deformation and density profile of Paraserianthes falcataria laminas. The laminas were pre-steamed with different durations ranging from 0–30 min, compressed with heat, and cooled down. For cell lumen area measurement, laminas pre-steamed for 30 min had the lowest cell lumen area, where the decrease in the lumens contributed to an enhancement in density. The finding from the density profile measurement indicated that densification treatment had enhanced the density of the laminas by up to 50%, whereby laminas pre-steamed for 10 min achieved the highest density.