Abstract
Steady-state permeability experiments yield a single value for permeability in each of the three structural directions of wood. A high value indicates that passage through the wood is easy, but it does not necessarily mean that all voids are filled readily with a fluid.
This research aimed at developing an experimental method that would give a better insight in this “dual” nature of wood permeability.
Cylindrical wood specimens, 50 cm x 7.5 cm diameter were evacuated and a known quantity of gas was admitted to the system. A comparison of the pressure/time curve with theoretically derived results gave values for the transverse or longitudinal gas permeability.
The most important results are: 1. Several species show a definitely “dual” permeability in the transverse direction; 2. the longitudinal/transverse permeability ratio for large specimens is considerably lower than steady-state results on small specimens indicate.
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Paper No. 2793 of the Journal Series of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, Raleigh, N.C.; a condensation of part of Ph. D. thesis from the Department of Wood and Paper Science of North Carolina State University 1967 under the direction of Alfred J. Stamm, Robertson, Professor of Wood and Paper Science.
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Prak, A.L. Unsteady-State gas permeability of wood. Wood Science and Technology 4, 50–69 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00356237
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00356237