WOOD RESEARCH Volume 68, Number 3, 2023
Peter Rantuch, Jozef Martinka, Tomáš Štefko, Igor Wachter, and Mária Zuzana Bednáriková

Characterization of the Burning of Oriented Strand Boards Exposed to Flame

Since the methods based on the interaction of a relatively low intensity flame on the lignocellulose sample surface often do not allow measuring the heat release rate (HRR), a procedure using oxygen consumption calorimetry was proposed. The method was applied to OSB samples with dimensions of 320 mm x 140 mm x 25 mm placed in a vertical position. During the measurement, in addition to the HRR, the production of smoke, which was significant after stopping the burner, was also monitored. The average net value of HRR at burner outputs of 3 kW, 4 kW and 5 kW was 2.339 kW and the smoke specific extinction area was in the range of 10.88 m2.kg-1 and 13.19 m2.kg-1.

WOOD RESEARCH Volume 67, Number 6, 2022
Peter Godovčin, Jozef Martinka, Peter Rantuch, Martina Hladová, Juraj Kopúnek, Mária Otajovičová, and Mária Zuzana Bednáriková

Impact of temperature and ultraviolet radiation on changes of colour of fir and spruce wood

This study deals with the investigation of impact of temperature and ultraviolet (UV) radiation on spruce wood (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) and fir wood (Abies alba Mill.) colour changes. Samples of investigated woods species were loaded by temperatures of 110, 130, and 150°C and UV radiation (with 253.7 nm wavelength and 40 W m-2 intensity) during 72, 168, 336 and 672 hours. Colour changes were evaluated in the CIE Lab colour space. The neural network for prediction of both colour coordinates and total colour difference of spruce and fir wood was trained by data regarding exposure conditions (temperature, UV radiation and time) and by obtained results. Coefficient of determination (R2) of the neural network was above 0.99 for training, validation and testing. Average colour coordinates (± standard deviation) of the spruce and fir wood before exposure were L* = 80.08 ± 3.70, a* = 7.55 ± 2.13, b* = 21.56 ± 1.79, L* = 80.46 ± 1.91, a* = 6.84 ± 0.97, and b* = 18.90 ± 1.26, resp. Total colour differences after thermal loading were in the interval from ΔEab* = 3.76 ± 1.95 (spruce wood at 110°C) to ΔEab* = 45.37±1.46 (fir wood at 150°C). Total colour differences of both wood species exposed by UV radiation were approximately in intervals from ΔEab* = 12 to 13 (after 72 h) up to ΔEab* = 16 to 20 (after 168 to 672 h). Obtained results proven that both temperature and UV radiation have significant impact on the colour changes of the investigated woods.