Proceedings e report - Firenze University Press

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WOOD SCIENCE FOR CONSERVATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE
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EMC7.2%
7.5%
7.7%
8.6%
9.0%
(20 o C RH65%)
Fig. 4 Age of wood samples determined by dendrochronological dating and their equilibrium moisture contents
Stress (MPa)
100
80
60
40
20
I9
A23
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Strain (%)
A: Period of aging 1618 years
I: Period of aging 20 years
Fig. 5 Typical stress and strain curves of the aging wood of hinoki samples (L-direction).
2.3. Characterization of the accelerated aging treated wood
The aging of wood is considered to be a slow thermo-oxidative process caused by oxygen in the air.
The hinoki specimens with the highest quality in terms of Buddhist sculptors were subjected to the
heat treatment at 90, 120, 150 and 180 C under various treatment times from 0.5 hr to7 years (to be
continued) by normal oven method. Effects of accelerated aging (heat) treatment on the changes of
physical, mechanical and chemical properties are now being characterized [2, 3]. The changes of
physical, mechanical and chemical properties were analyzed to evaluate the mechanism of the
degradation in aging wood. The results from the wood under the heat treatment are compared with
those from naturally aging wood.
2.4. Establishment of the database on the wood quality from historical buildings
The collected samples and data are listed and preserved in the Xylarium and then partly opened
through the on-line access of Humanosphere Database (Xylarium database) on the homepage of RISH
as shown in Fig. 6.