Evaluation of Material Characteristics of Xylite – Part 2. Characterization of Drying Defects

Xylite very much has the appearance of precious wood species with dark heartwood and also has some physical and aesthetical properties of wood, required nowadays for making valuable products. Xylite, with well recognizable and preserved wood structure, was used for studying the drying kinetics and drying quality. The drying experiments were carried out at 20 °C and 40 °C using constant relative air humidity ranging from 34 % to 87 %, on elements 6 mm, 12 mm and 18 mm thick. The visual assessment of the drying quality was additionally made by light microscopy fracture analysis. The drying time increased with the increase of relative humidity and thickness of specimens. The yield of dry material decreased with the increase of drying time and with the increase of specimen thickness. End-splitting and bowing were the most common drying defects on tangentially oriented specimens. The failure usually occurred in collapsed earlywood, in disoriented tissue or in places with soil or mineral inclusions.