Wood as construction material has many great qualities, although some challenges exist too, such as durability towards certain biological factors, and other factors like moisture. Wood modification allows us to fight against these problems and increases the number of uses of wood. Thermal modification is already widely used, and it is known that thermally modified wood absorbs less water than unmodified (Hill 2006). European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) belongs among the most common tree species in Central Europe and has a lot of potential what comes to possible uses. In the future the role of beech in wood industry may become more important, as there is higher need for new materials and products, and the amount of beech forests is expected to increase (Pramreiter & Grabner 2023). Because of this, it is important to find ways to make it more applicable for use. The aim of this study was to find out how dimensional stability of European beech can be increased by thermal modification.
Keywords: thermal modification, wood modification, European beech, EMC, ASE, swelling
Authors
Hiljahenna Tomminen
University of Helsinki, Finland
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