Effects of accelerated and outdoor ageing on leachability and properties of compreg-laminated sesenduk wood

This study evaluated the effects of accelerated and outdoor ageing on compreg-laminated sesenduk (endospermum diadenum) wood and correlations between these two ageing methods were established. for outdoor ageing,samples were exposed to tropical weather for 1,3 and 6 months. for accelerated ageing,cyclic boil-dry treatment involving 1,2,5 and 10 cycles were employed. results revealed that density and weight loss were observed after the ageing treatments. after 6 months of outdoor ageing,water absorption of aged phenol formaldehyde and phenol formaldehyde urea-treated samples increased from 3.0 to 13.3% and from 4.1 to 26.6% respectively. similar behaviour was also observed for samples which underwent 10 cycles of accelerated ageing. samples subjected to outdoor ageing had thickness swelling higher than that of accelerated ageing (4.3-4.5% vs 2.4-3.7%). most of the samples lost 8.3 to 22.4% of initial modulus of rupture after 1 month of outdoor ageing. treated samples retained 61.7 to 77.1% of its initial modulus of elasticity after 10 cycles of accelerated ageing while the untreated samples retained only 48.7%. emission of formaldehyde decreased with increased exposure times and cyclic boil-dry cycles. as confirmed by pearson's correlation test,there were good correlations (r = 0.71-0.99) for properties of samples between accelerated ageing and outdoor ageing. © forest research institute malaysia.