Evaluation of pretreatment moisture content and fixation characteristics of treated wood for pressure treatment of yellow poplar skin timber with ACQ, CUAZ and CUHDO

This study was conducted to evaluate the pressure treatment characteristics of yellow poplar skin timber with ACQ-2, CUAZ-3, and CuHDO-1. The effect of moisture content (MC) on treatability was investigated, and fixation characteristics of copper-based preservatives were also evaluated. Sapwood of yellow poplar, which was dried below 50 percent MC, was fully penetrated with preservatives, and minimum requirement of preservative retention for the hazard class H3 was achieved. Through measuring retention gradient in yellow poplar sapwood, it was confirmed that minimum requirement of preservative retention for the hazard class H3 was achieved in the assay zone from the surface to 15 mm-depth when the specimens were dried below 30 percent MC. Yellow poplar heartwood did not meet the minimum requirement of penetration and retention for the hazard class H3 over the range of pretreatment MCs tested. The fixation rate of copper was much faster under drying condition compared with nondrying condition; more than 90% of copper were fixed in 3 weeks at 21°C under drying conditions.