The effect of dry heat treatment on physical properties of Acacia mangium and Acacia auriculiformis from Vietnam

Acacia mangium and Acacia auriculiformis are among the most important plantation trees in South-east Asia and particularly in Vietnam.Up till now their wood has been used mainly as pulpwood, but they are suitable for the purposes of timber and furniture industry as well.The aim of our research was to test the effect of dry thermal treatment on these woods to give a base to extend their industrial use.Acacia mangium and Acacia auriculiformis samples were transported to our laboratory from Hoa Binh province of Vietnam.The treatment was performed with a schedule at 180° C degrees and 15 hours duration.After the treatment we measured the density, shrinkage, equilibrium moisture content, and compared to those of the samples of untreated wood.Also we measured the change of the colour properties.The colour changes were measured according to the CIELab measuring system by a Konica-Minolta CM-2600d spectrophotometer equipment.-------