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Artifacts in electrical measurements on wood caused by non-uniform moisture distributions

Fredriksson, Maria LU orcid ; Thybring, Emil Engelund and Zelinka, Samuel L. (2021) In Holzforschung 75(6). p.517-525
Abstract

This paper examines how the moisture conditioning method affects the electrical conductance of wood. A widely used dataset was acquired by Stamm in 1929 who used a method of conditioning where water-saturated wood specimens were partially dried, sealed and left for a period of time for moisture to be redistributed before the electrical conductance was measured. However, more recent measurements combined conditioning above saturated salt solutions and pressure plate/pressure membrane techniques to obtain equilibrium moisture contents at constant relative humidity levels in the full moisture range. In this paper, the electrical conductance as a function of moisture content was compared for these two conditioning methods. When the... (More)

This paper examines how the moisture conditioning method affects the electrical conductance of wood. A widely used dataset was acquired by Stamm in 1929 who used a method of conditioning where water-saturated wood specimens were partially dried, sealed and left for a period of time for moisture to be redistributed before the electrical conductance was measured. However, more recent measurements combined conditioning above saturated salt solutions and pressure plate/pressure membrane techniques to obtain equilibrium moisture contents at constant relative humidity levels in the full moisture range. In this paper, the electrical conductance as a function of moisture content was compared for these two conditioning methods. When the specimens were conditioned to constant relative humidity levels, the data obeyed a percolation model better than when the conditioning procedure by Stamm was used. This was attributed to that Stamm's method gives moisture gradients through the specimen because of sorption hysteresis effects, even though the wood is conditioned to a steady-state moisture content. Equilibration to constant relative humidity levels thus provided more well-defined moisture states and that the data followed a percolation model indicates that the mechanism of electrical conduction in wood does not change, even at high moisture contents.

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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
electrical conduction, ionic conduction, moisture content, percolation theory, wood
in
Holzforschung
volume
75
issue
6
pages
9 pages
publisher
De Gruyter
external identifiers
  • scopus:85095953278
ISSN
0018-3830
DOI
10.1515/hf-2020-0138
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4ce51ff1-d6cd-4bf1-9e57-a6df74e52aa3
date added to LUP
2020-11-26 14:23:01
date last changed
2022-04-26 22:10:28
@article{4ce51ff1-d6cd-4bf1-9e57-a6df74e52aa3,
  abstract     = {{<p>This paper examines how the moisture conditioning method affects the electrical conductance of wood. A widely used dataset was acquired by Stamm in 1929 who used a method of conditioning where water-saturated wood specimens were partially dried, sealed and left for a period of time for moisture to be redistributed before the electrical conductance was measured. However, more recent measurements combined conditioning above saturated salt solutions and pressure plate/pressure membrane techniques to obtain equilibrium moisture contents at constant relative humidity levels in the full moisture range. In this paper, the electrical conductance as a function of moisture content was compared for these two conditioning methods. When the specimens were conditioned to constant relative humidity levels, the data obeyed a percolation model better than when the conditioning procedure by Stamm was used. This was attributed to that Stamm's method gives moisture gradients through the specimen because of sorption hysteresis effects, even though the wood is conditioned to a steady-state moisture content. Equilibration to constant relative humidity levels thus provided more well-defined moisture states and that the data followed a percolation model indicates that the mechanism of electrical conduction in wood does not change, even at high moisture contents. </p>}},
  author       = {{Fredriksson, Maria and Thybring, Emil Engelund and Zelinka, Samuel L.}},
  issn         = {{0018-3830}},
  keywords     = {{electrical conduction; ionic conduction; moisture content; percolation theory; wood}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{517--525}},
  publisher    = {{De Gruyter}},
  series       = {{Holzforschung}},
  title        = {{Artifacts in electrical measurements on wood caused by non-uniform moisture distributions}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/94246013/Fredriksson_et_al_Artifacts_in_electrical_measurements.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1515/hf-2020-0138}},
  volume       = {{75}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}