Wood is a very versatile biomaterial. It is used in construction because of its availability, sustainability, cost and strength and in furniture because of its warmth and beauty. For many applications, wood is used without any modification. In some cases, however, there is a need to improve its performance properties to compete with other higher performing and more expensive materials. When wood is used where hardness is a requirement (such as in flooring), there are several ways to increase hardness. A wood that is naturally hard is the first choice and the hardness of wood varies greatly. If additional hardness is desired and wood is the selected resource for the application, there are methods to make softer woods harder. There are two major methods that have been used to increase the hardness of wood: compression and impregnation of chemicals.
Keywords: Hardening, wood, physical properties, compressing, phenolics, acrylics
Authors
Rowell R. M.
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
EcoBuild, Stockholm, Sweden
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