Thermal modified wood has some advantages over natural wood, including decreased hygroscopicity, increased dimensional stability, and enhanced durability. In this study, European species of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), spruce (Picea orientalis), ash (Fraxinus spp.), and tropical species of tali (Erythrophleum ivorense), and iroko (Chlorophora excelsa) were thermally treated at 180 °C and 210 °C for 1,5 and 2 h, respectively. We evaluated the resistances of the untreated and thermally treated samples to decay induced by the white rot fungus, Trametes versicolor and two brown rot fungi, Coniophora puteana and Postia placenta. In addition, the samples were exposed to the termite Reticulitermes grassei and the longhorn beetle species Hylotrupes bajulus to evaluate their resistance to damageby the insects. During the heat treatment, the mass loss of the samples generally was between 9 and 14%. After the heat treatment, experiments were conducted to determine the effects of white and brown rot fungi on samples of Scots pine and tali, the effect of C. puteana on spruce, and the effects of C. puteana and P. placenta on ash and iroko. In all experiments, the mass loss due to damage from the various fungi was less than 1% for the samples that had been heat treated at 210 °C. The untreated and heat-treated tropical species exhibited higher durability withvery low mass loss and 100% mortality of the insects when attacked by termites, whereas the other wood species had moderate attack. In addition, Hylotrupes bajulus exposure by two standart methods (EN 46 and 47) resulted in similar performances in most cases, although EN 47 treated samples at 210 °C showed improved durability for Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and spruce (Picea orientalis).

Scots pine sapwood was pretreated with two levels of propanetriol (20% and 40% w/w glycerol), and then subjected to vacuum-heat treatment (VHT) at 180°C and 200°C. The treated samples were examined with respect to their weight and volumetric changes, mechanical properties, colour changes, and dynamic water vapour sorption. The weight of the samples after VHT did not change with increasing the temperature, but it was increased in glycerol pretreated samples. Combination of glycerol pretreatment and VHT decreased the maximum swelling. Total colour change was significantly higher during VHT at a higher temperature, while no obvious trend observed in the samples pretreated with glycerol. Modulus of elasticity (MOE) and modulus of rupture (MOR) were not affected by solely VHT, but strongly decreased after glycerol pretreatment. The equilibrium moisture content (EMC) of the samples decreased by VHT. The glycerol pretreatment caused a reduction in EMC values at a relative humidity (RH) below 60%, but considerably increased the moisture sorption in the RH above 75%. VHT slightly reduced the sorption hysteresis compared to untreated wood, but an apparent reduction in hysteresis observed by glycerol pretreatment. This indicates that the flexibility of the wood cell wall polymers increases due to glycerol pretreatment, which results in decreased MOE and sorption hysteresis values.

Marine borers can destroy wooden structures exposed to the marine environment and cause great monetary loss. In the region of Amasra of the Black Sea in Turkey, ships continue to be built from wood, mainly Castanea sativa (sweet chestnut) and Quercus petraea (sessile oak) and therefore are subject to destruction by marine borers. Copper-chromium-arsenic (CCA), used to be one of the most common wood preservatives used in Turkey. However, in this area its efficacy against mari-ne borers is unknown. The resistance of untreated and CCA-treated samples of chestnut, oak and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) was examined and aft er twelve months evaluated in two ways, EN 275, and a non-destructive measurement for dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOE). Untreated samples, particularly Scots pine were severely attacked by Teredo navalis. Treated samples of oak and chestnut were moderately attacked while treated samples of Scots pine sapwood and heartwood were sound. Severity of wood boring attack determined using MOE showed a very good correlation with that de-termined by visual assessment in untreated wood, and a good correlation for treated wood. Dynamic MOE allows rapid on-site evaluation rather than measurements within a laboratory and also without causing damage to the structures being evaluated.

Yağlı ısıl işlem ahşabın boyut stabilizasyonunu arttırmak için çevre dostu bir yöntemdir. Bu işlemde yağ farklı sıcaklık ve sürelerde ısı ortamı olarak kullanılmaktadır. Bu çalışmada; sahil çamı (Pinus pinaster marittima ) ve kavak (Populus euroamericana ) odun örnekleri aspir yağı, keten yağı ve fındık yağı ile 160 °C, 180°C ve 200°C’de 2,4 ve 6 saat süre ile ısıl işleme tabi tutulmuşlardır. Yağsız ve yağlı ısıl işleme maruz bırakılmış odun örnekleri için 2 hafta boyunca su alma testi gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu süreçte örneklerin su alma ve teğetsel genişleme değerleri ölçülmüştür. Ayrıca örneklerin liflere paralel basınç direnci değerleri tespit edilmiştir. Elde edilen sonuçlara göre yağlı ısıl işlem sahil çamı ve kavak örneklerinin su alma oranlarını önemli ölçüde azaltırken, vakum altında ısıl işlem uygulanan örnekler kontrol ile benzer davranışlar sergilemiştir. Kavak örneklerinde teğetsel genişleme sahil çamı örneklerine kıyasla gözle görülür oranda iyileşmiştir. vakum-ısıl işlem ve yağlı ısl işlem kontrol örneklerine kıyasla sahil çamının basınç direncini artırmıştır.

Beef tallow is a by-product of rendering of fats from meat production. While tallow can be used for a variety of applications including biodiesel production, it might also be useful for enhancing the water resistance of wood to improve durability. The effects of differing retentions of tallow on wood performance were evaluated in scots pine, beech and poplar. Tallow slowed but did not completely limit water uptake nor did it completely inhibit swelling. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis indicated that tallow did not appreciably alter the wood chemistry and TGA analysis suggested that it had only minor thermal effects. Fungal exposures suggested that tallow treatment improved decay resistance slightly but would not function as a stand-alone wood protectant. The results suggest that tallow might be a useful additive for bulking the wood to enhance water repellency of an existing preservative.