In this study, Taurus Fir (Abies cilicica) wood was treated with hot air at temperatures of 160, 190 and 220°C for 2h durations. After heat treatment, some physical properties and wood-water relationships were evaluated, such as mass loss, density, tangential swelling, radial swelling, volumetric swelling, swelling anisotropy, and fiber saturation point. In addition, the biological durability of Taurus Fir wood was tested in the laboratory with the soil contact test, and determined weight loss. The relationships between mass loss and some of the tested properties were determined using regression analysis. The results showed that heat treatment at 220°C had significant effects on the physical properties and the biological durability of Taurus Fir wood. Further, it was determined that there was a linear-negative correlation between weight loss and mass loss.

Anatomical irregularities should be removed from the evaluation if a reliable processing roughness is to be evaluated. In order to get only measures of processing, wood anatomy can be removed with a method based on the Abbot-curve, which separates the core data from outliers by means of an upper and a lower threshold. Although researchers agreed on the need of separating the processing roughness from anatomical roughness, there was no study on the most appropriate method of replacing the missing data in the roughness profiles. This paper examined three methods of replacing the oulying data and their effect on roughness parameters calculated on sampling lengths, as instructed by ISO 4287 (1998) and on evaluation length. The Zero method replaced outliers with zero values disregarded in further calculations, the Predicted method replaced the missing data by cubic spline interpolation and Total removal method removed completely wood anatomical features up to the profile mean line.The results showed that Zero method is the best choice when roughness parameters are calculated on the evaluation length. Compared to Predicted method it has the advantage of using real data giving similar results.Total removal method dramatically reduces the number of profile valleys in the evaluation biasing the roughness parameters

The study investigated the strength and water sorption properties of plastic composites produced from the sawdust of bamboo and recycled Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE). Three levels of board density (500kg/m3 , 600kg/m3 and 700kg/m3 ) and three levels of plastic/fibre mixing ratio (1:1, 2:1 and 3:1) were adopted. The thickness swelling (TS), water absorption (WA), tensile strength, modulus of elasticity (MOE) and modulus of rupture (MOR) were investigated. The sorption properties were measured after 24hour water-soak test exposure. The mean values of the properties ranged from 4.15% to 1.40% for thickness swelling; 31.96% to 4.83% for water absorption; and 2.55Mpa to 6.98Mpa, 5564.11Mpa to 10771.65Mpa and 0.60Mpa to 4.29Mpa for tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and modulus of rupture respectively. The result revealed that as the plastic/fibre mixing ratio and board density increased the tensile strength, MOE and MOR increased, while TS and WA decreased. Strength properties of composites boards produced with the higher production variables had higher strength properties and decreased sorption assessment. Bamboo particles are suitable for the manufacturing of Wood Plastic Composites (WPC) using LDPE

The study investigated the strength and water sorption properties of plastic composites produced from the sawdust of bamboo and recycled Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE). Three levels of board density (500kg/m3 , 600kg/m3 and 700kg/m3 ) and three levels of plastic/fibre mixing ratio (1:1, 2:1 and 3:1) were adopted. The thickness swelling (TS), water absorption (WA), tensile strength, modulus of elasticity (MOE) and modulus of rupture (MOR) were investigated. The sorption properties were measured after 24hour water-soak test exposure. The mean values of the properties ranged from 4.15% to 1.40% for thickness swelling; 31.96% to 4.83% for water absorption; and 2.55Mpa to 6.98Mpa, 5564.11Mpa to 10771.65Mpa and 0.60Mpa to 4.29Mpa for tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and modulus of rupture respectively. The result revealed that as the plastic/fibre mixing ratio and board density increased the tensile strength, MOE and MOR increased, while TS and WA decreased. Strength properties of composites boards produced with the higher production variables had higher strength properties and decreased sorption assessment. Bamboo particles are suitable for the manufacturing of Wood Plastic Composites (WPC) using LDPE