Analysis of micro-morphology, mechanical properties, and dimensional stability of densified faber fir infused with paraffin

The low density and light color of faber fir [Abies. fabri (Mast.) Craib] wood have limited its applications in interior decoration and wall panels. In order to increase the density of faber fir and thus expand its scope of application, this study chemically pretreated the wood firstly, and then pressed it at high temperatures to make densified wood. The microscopic morphology and mechanical property tests showed that the performances of densified wood were greatly enhanced compared with the natural wood. When the pretreatment time was 10 h, the cell lumen size of densified wood became extremely small, resulting in a density of 1160 kg m(-3) and a relative crystallinity of 76.9%. Moreover, the mean flexural strength and elastic modulus of the densified wood with a pretreatment process of 10 h were 191 MPa and 23.4 GPa, which were 170% and 230% higher than the natural wood. In addition, the obtained high-strength wood was infused with paraffin to improve dimensional stability without compromising the high strength of the densified wood. The performance test showed that the thickness swelling of the treated densified wood was only 0.6% (after 72 h water absorption), showing excellent dimensional stability.