1. INTRODUCTION
Even the same tree species show regional differences in anatomical and physical properties due to various factors such as climate, growth area and environment, and genetic inheritance (Koch, 1985). These regional differences in quality should be taken into account and effectively utilized to use wood and serve as indicators to select genetically superior wood. Many experts who deal with Korean woods say that pine trees show different qualities depending on regions, and in a survey on quality difference, 70% of respondents mentioned that there exist differences among trees (Han, 2015). Wood has an internal resistance force against any external force, and the maximum resistible stress, which is the stress at the moment of breakage, is called strength. The strength properties of wood is affected by a number of factors including internal factors such as cell wall structure and microstructure, fiber strike, moisture content, specific gravity, annual ring width, and knots and external factors such as temperature, load conditions, and growth environment (Kang et al., 2008). Jeong and Kim (2015) reported that alnus glutinosa from Yugoslavia had two times wider diameter at breast height than those in other origins and showed superior mechanical properties in a study that determined sources of superior seeds in terms of material quality through an analysis of correlation between growth speed and mechanical properties of alnus glutinosa from four different seed origins (Yugoslavia, Italy, Britain, and Bulgaria). Han et al. (2014) also concluded that the better the growth and development of a tree is, the better its mechanical characteristics in a study that investigated relationships between growth speed and material quality of 5 Quercus rubra trees from the US and Canada. Han et al. (2016) reports that the differences in average compressive and bending strength of pine trees that grew in Anmyeon-do and Sogwang-ri were mainly caused by differences in annual ring width and latewood proportion depending on age group in addition to the differences caused by regional factors in his study on correlation of physical and mechanical properties of pine wood from different growth areas. According to the precedent studies on anatomical features (Kim et al., 2018), physical features (Kim and Kim, 2018), and microfibril angles (Kim et al., 2020) of Korean pine trees, pine trees show different qualities depending on regions and the features are associated with one another. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to define mechanical characteristics by regions by investigating mechanical features of pine trees from different regions and analyzing its relationship with genetic, physical, and microfibril angle features.
2. MATERIALS and METHODS
The subjects are pine trees from Yeongdong (Goseonggun), Yeongseo (Hongcheon-gun), and Yeongnam (Bonghwa-gun) that were owned by the East Sea Wood Distribution Center under the National Forestry Cooperative Federation and were granted for in 2015. At the time of grant, the trees were in the form of about 20 cm-thick disks and their age, DBH (diameter of basal height), average tree-ring width, latewood proportion, and tree trimming year are shown in Table 1.
Compressive strength was tested based on the compression test method of KS F 2206 wood. The dimensions of the specimens were set as 2 cm (T) × 2 cm (R) × 4 cm (L), and four to seven specimens were created for each of juvenile wood, heartwood, and sapwood. They were humidified at 20°C and relative humidity of 65% in a thermo-hygrostat (DAIHAN labtech LHT- 2250C) and then measured by a universal strength tester (INSTRON, Model 4206).
Hardness was tested based on the hardness test method of KS F 2212 wood. The dimensions of the specimens were 4 cm (T) × 4 cm (R) × 4 cm (L), and three specimens were created for each part of wood. They were humidified at 20°C and relative humidity of 65% in a thermo-hygrostat (DAIHAN labtech LHT-2250C) and then measured by a universal strength tester (INSTRON, Model 4206).
Shear strength was tested based on the shear test method of KS F 2209 wood. The dimensions of the specimens were 2 cm (T) × 2 cm (R) × 3 cm (L), and one to six specimens were created for each part of wood to be measured on the tangential section. They were humidified at 20°C and relative humidity of 65% in a thermo-hygrostat (DAIHAN labtech LHT-2250C) and then measured by a universal strength tester (INSTRON, Model 4206).
For the statistical analysis of the data, Duncan test was conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics 24, and the significance level was set at 0.05 for analysis.
3. RESULTS and DISCUSSION
Table 2 shows the compressive strength of pine wood from Goseong, Hongcheon, and Bonghwa: Strength of juvenile wood was 46.24 N/mm2 for Goseong, 42.12 N/mm2 for Bonghwa, and 37.79 N/mm2 for Hongcheon; strength of heartwood was 51.37 N/mm2 for Bonghwa, 38.97 N/mm2 for Hongcheon, and 38.17 N/mm2 for Goseong; and strength of sapwood was 51.19 N/mm2 for Bonghwa, 34.50 N/mm2 for Hongcheon, and 29.86 N/mm2 for Goseong. The Duncan test which was conducted to examine differences in compressive strength among regions showed that there was no difference in compressive strength among juvenile wood, but the wood from Bonghwa had higher compressive strength than those from Goseong and Hongcheon. Oh (1997) reported that the longer the tracheid length is, the higher the compressive strength. In the precedent study conducted by Kim et al. (2018), there was no difference intracheid length among juvenile wood, but heartwood and sapwood in Bongwha had the longest tracheid, followed by those in Hongcheon, and those in Goseong. The compressive strength in this study was the highest among trees in the order of Bonghwa, Hongcheon, and Goseong, and it seems that the wood from Bonghwa showed higher strength than those of other regions because the tracheid in Bonghwa is longer than the ones in Goseong and Hongcheon. As for the relationship between microfibril angle and tracheid, it was reported that micro fibril angle decreases when the tracheid increases and vice versa (Watanabe, 1963; Hiller, 1964; Kim and Min, 1999; Rlee and Kim, 2005). The precedent study by Kim et al. (2020) showed that the microfibril angle of pine tree in Goseong was the highest, followed by that in Hongcheon, and that the in Bonghwa. The relationship between the tracheid lengths in the study by Kim et al. (2018) and the microfibril angles in the study by Kim et al. (2020) was consistent with the results of existing studies. Therefore, the compressive strength which was the highest in the order of trees in Bonghwa, Hongcheon, and Goseong is attributed to the relationship between tracheid length and microfibril angle. In comparison with compressive strength of pine wood in another report, Cho (1994) found compressive strength of pine wood at 42.14 N/ mm2 and compare this result with the overall figures in this study, the figures in Goseong and Hongcheon were lower and those in Bonghwa were higher. Kang et al. (2008) reported that strength of wood highly relies on specific gravity; the higher the specific gravity is, the stronger the wood is. Given that the precedent study by Kim and Kim (2018), the wood from Bonghwa had the highest specific gravity, therefore specific gravity seems to be one of factors contributing to higher compressive strength. As the heartwood and sapwood from Goseong and Hongcheon showed significant differences in terms of compressive strength, but the those from Bonghwa did not (51.37 N/mm2 for heartwood and 51.19 N/mm2 for sapwood), which means that the wood from Bonghwa may be determined to possess superior material quality with uniform and high compressive strength.
Table 3 shows proportional limits for each of the regions: juvenile wood was measured at 21.77 N/mm2 in Goseong, 20.17 N/mm2 in Bonghwa, and 18.96 N/mm2 in Hongcheon; heartwood was measured at 27.86 N/ mm2 in Bonghwa, 19.76 N/mm2 in Hongcheon, and 16.13 N/mm2 in Goseong; and sapwood at 27.19 N/mm2 in Bonghwa, 17.10 N/mm2 in Hongcheon, and 13.72 N/mm2 in Goseong. The Duncan test which was conducted to examine difference of trees among showed that the juvenile wood did not display any differences in qualities. Any, but there were quality differences among heartwood and sapwood. The proportional limits of trees in Bongwha also had the highest value just like compressive strength. It seems that the difference in the proportional limits of trees between the regions may be explained by the compressive strength.
Table 4 shows hardness of the wood from Goseong, Hongcheon, and Bonghwa: the cross sections of trees in Bongwha showed 53.68 N/mm2, 39.68 N/mm2 in Hongcheon, 39.15 N/mm2 in Goseong; the radial sections of trees in Goseong showed 19.05 N/mm2, 16.94 N/mm2 in Bonghwa, and 15.03 N/mm2 in Hongcheon; and the tangential sections of trees in Goseong showed 20.61 N/mm2, 18.84 N/mm2 in Bonghwa, and 14.15 N/mm2 in Hongcheon, all of which proved to be statistically significant. The cross section of wood from Bonghwa was the hardest and the one from Goseong was the hardest in terms of tangential and radial section. It is because the wood from Bonghwa had longer tracheid and smaller microfibril angle, leading to higher hardness on cross sections and lower hardness on tangential and radial sections. On the contrary, the wood from Goseong had shorter tracheid and bigger microfibril angle, reducing hardness on cross sections and enhancing hardness on tangential and radial sections (Kim et al., 2018; Kim et al., 2020). According to the report by Cho (1994), pine wood showed hardness of 44.10 N/mm2 on cross sections, 10.88 N/mm2 on radial sections, 11.76 N/mm2 and tangential sections. Comparing these values with the results of study, wood from Goseong showed higher values in terms of radial and tangential sections, but lower value on cross sections, and wood from Hongcheon showed higher values in terms of tangential and radial sections except for cross sections. Wood from Bonghwa showed higher values in all the sections.
Table 5 shows shear strength of wood from each of the regions. The shear strength of heartwood in Bonghwa was 11.52 N/mm2, 10.75 N/mm2 in Hongcheon, and 10.63 N/mm2 in Goseong. Sapwood in Bonghwa showed 11.48 N/mm2, 8.72 N/mm2 in Goseong, and 7.14 N/mm2 in Hongcheon. The Duncan test which was conducted to examine any regional differences did not show any difference in heartwood, but wood from Bonghwa showed higher values than the ones from Goseong and Hongcheon. As it seems that lignin content, which is associated with adhesion strength, affects the results of the shear strength, additional chemical analysis is required. Cho (1994) reported that the shear strength of radial sections of pine wood was 9.51 N/mm2and of cross sections 10.19 N/mm2. Like compressive strength, shear strength was different by heartwood and sapwood between Goseong and Hongcheon, but heartwood and sapwood from Bonghwa did not show a significant difference in terms of shear strength (11.52 N/mm2 for heartwood, 11.48 N/mm2 for sapwood), making it a superior material with consistent and high shear strength. Park et al. (2006) stated that there is no definitive cause for the difference in the strength of heartwood and sapwood, but the actual difference is caused by differences in special materials deposited within the tissues.
Province | Goseong-gun | Hongcheon-gun | Bonghwa-gun |
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Position | |||
Heartwood | 10.63 ± 0 A* | 10.75 ± 1.05 A | 11.52 ± 1.32 A |
Sapwood | 8.72 ± 1.35 b | 7.14 ± 1.33 b | 11.48 ± 0.88 a |
4. CONCLUSION
This study investigated mechanical characteristics of pine wood from different regions. The relationship with existing anatomical, physical and microfibril angle properties were analyzed to determine mechanical characteristics by regions. Wood from Bonghwa showed higher compressive and shear strength in categories of both heartwood and sapwood, and wood from Goseong and Hongcheon showed significant differences in categories of heartwood and sapwood, however, wood from Bonghwa did not. Wood from Bonghwa had higher hardness on cross sections and the one from Goseong had higher values on radial and tangential sections. It is thought that these values resulted from the difference such as tracheid and microfibril angles by regions. This study’s verification of the differences in the material characteristics is expected to help choose the domestic pine wood more effectively and selectively thereby adding more values.