A Physical and Mechanical Model Able to Predict the Stress Field in Wood over a Wide Range of Drying Conditions

Abstract

Drying is an essential operation of the wood industry. Computational models of wood drying appeared several decades ago. They started with just mass transfer in one dimension. Nowadays, comprehensive models exist, that can deal with three dimensions and comprehensive physical and mechanical formulation. Provided a comprehensive approach is usual (species characterization, mathematical modeling, computational simulation, and model validation), the computational model is a tool that is now used not only to improve existing procedures but also to imagine and tune innovative processes. Two examples are proposed, that allows the importance of the mechanical characterization to be exhibited:

–	To take advantage of the viscoelastic behavior of wood, and its hydro-thermal activation, to reduce significantly the drying time with the same quality of the dried product.
–	To compare the efficiency of two different drying schedules with informative conclusions.

Keywords:

• Wood drying
• Mechanical behavior
• Computational modeling
• Drying schedules