The primary purpose of growing rubber tree is to produce latex for rubber and tire industries. However, its wood has become a veritable alternative timber source in Nigeria. Rubber wood has low durability and is dimensionally unstable [1,2]. Therefore, a measure of protection is required to enhance its service life. To do this, chemical modification by acetylation was chosen on the basis that it is already a commercialized method and could easily be adopted in Nigeria. Earlier reports have shown the beneficial effect of acetylation on dimensional stability and on resistance to biotic and abiotic agents [3,4,5]. Other studies also report on changes in mechanical properties of wood due to acetylation [6]. However, the long-term effect of weathering on the mechanical properties of acetylated wood has yet to be studied in detail. In this study, we show the effect of acetylation and subsequent weathering on tensile stiffness of Rubber wood.
Keywords: mechanical properties, acetylation, rubberwood, weathering, tensile test
Authors
Samuel Olaniran
ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Etienne Cabane
Markus Rüggeberg
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