Checking of profiled southern pine and pacific silver fir deck boards

This study tests the hypothesis that the effectiveness of surface profiling at reducing the checking of deck boards exposed to weathering varies with wood species and profile type. Southern pine (Pinus sp.) and Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis) deck boards were machined to produce three different...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forest products journal 2010-09, Vol.60 (6), p.501-507
Main Authors: Evans, Philip D, Cullis, Ian, Morris, Paul I
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abies alba
Abies amabilis
Consumer preferences
Effectiveness
Evaluation
Forest products
Forest products industry
Hypotheses
Lumber industry
Materials
Methods
Pallets
Pinus
Statistics
Studies
Tests
Variance analysis
weathering
wood
Wood products
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Summary:This study tests the hypothesis that the effectiveness of surface profiling at reducing the checking of deck boards exposed to weathering varies with wood species and profile type. Southern pine (Pinus sp.) and Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis) deck boards were machined to produce three different types of surface profiles: flat (control), ribbed (V-shaped grooves), and rippled (U-shaped grooves). Boards were exposed to accelerated weathering for 5 days, and the number and sizes of checks that developed in boards were quantified. Surface profiling reduced the total number and total width of checks in both Pacific silver fir and southern pine deck board specimens, but it had a greater effect at reducing checking in Pacific silver fir than in southern pine. The ribbed profile, in particular, was much more effective at reducing checking of Pacific silver fir than it was at reducing the checking of southern pine. Therefore, we conclude that the effectiveness of surface profiling at reducing checking of deck boards depends on wood species and the type of profile machined into wood surfaces. Checks developed in the grooves between the ribs of profiled boards and appeared to be constrained from becoming wider to a greater extent than becoming longer. Therefore, we conclude that the beneficial effect of profiling on the appearance of boards arises because checks are much narrower than those on flat boards and are located in the grooves, where they are difficult to see.
ISSN:0015-7473
2376-9637
DOI:10.13073/0015-7473-60.6.501