WOOD RESEARCH Volume 64, Number 1, 2019
Liu Ming-Li, Li Chun-Feng, and Liu Yan-Long

Physical and mechanical properties of modified poplar wood by heat treatment and impregnation of sodium silicate solution

The objective of this study was to improve physical and mechanical properties of fast-growing Chinese white poplar wood (Populus tomentosa Carrière). To this purpose, the heat treatment and impregnation by sodium silicate solution were investigated. In experiments, four processes under four different conditions were applied on poplar wood samples: temperature treatment (T), solution treatment (J), first solution and then temperature treatment (J-T) and first temperature and then solution treatment (T-J). The results showed that all measured mechanical properties were improved under conditions of J process. The hardness, impact toughness, bending strength and modulus of elasticity were improved by 8.4%, 29.2%, 12.0% and 16.1%, respectively. Additionally, tested wood samples exhibited significant increasing of values some mechanical properties such as hardness (70.1%) and modulus of elasticity (80.4%) in comparison with values for untreated samples if treatment was conducted under J-T process conditions. Treated wood by this technology could be utilized as solid wood composite or material for flooring substrate.

WOOD RESEARCH Volume 66, Number 3, 2021
Roman Dudík, Vlastimil Borůvka, Marcel Riedl, and Tomáš Holeček

Data mining and its impact on marketing communication – case: heat-treated birch wood

The article presents the results of a marketing survey in the area of customer preferences in the case of different degrees of heat-treated solid wood and birch veneer. Part of the marketing survey was a questionnaire survey, where the respondents, as potential customers, expressed their preferences for individual samples which, at first glance, differed in colour due to the different degrees of heat treatment. The result of the research is a clear preference for the heat-treated samples compared to the reference sample without heat treatment. A more detailed secondary analysis of the data from the questionnaire survey was performed with regard to the gender, age and education of the respondents. Here, too, it is possible to conclude a clear preference for heat-treated samples for these groups of respondents. The article also analyses the possibilities of the marketing strategy with a focus on marketing communication, especially in relation to wood processors and producers.