APPLICATION OF A STRAIN GAUGE TO ASSESS DRYING STRESSES IN NORMAL AND TENSION WOOD OF Corymbia citriodora

The quantitative evaluation of longitudinal drying strain can provide relevant information for the processing wood and lumber industry, especially with regard to reaction wood in Corymbia, since little has been published. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the steam conditioning and the cooling on the longitudinal drying strain (LDS) obtained from a strain gauge, called extensometer, in boards of both normal and tension wood of Corymbia citriodora. Lumbers 30 mm thick were produced and kiln dried at the initial temperature of 40 degrees C, final temperature of 65 degrees C and drying potential of 2,1. The LDS were measured before and after steam conditioning on hot and cold lumbers. It was observed that the conditioning did not reduce the LDS. Hot lumbers showed higher LDS values than the cold lumbers. The LDS values measured in normal, tension and opposite woods were statistically similar, indicating that the type of wood was not an influential factor in the appearance of longitudinal drying stresses. Extensometer proved to be feasible for measuring LDS, allowing its easy and quick quantification.