The physical properties of densified Terentang wood (Campnosperma auriculatum (blume) hook. f) on various steaming and pressing time

Abstract

The need for wood to meet the raw material of forestry industry is increasing, but the availability of high-quality wood tends to decrease. It is due to the prohibition to harvest wood from natural forests. To fulfill the wood needs, innovation needs to be done. One of the innovations in the field of wood construction is needed to overcome the scarcity in fulfilling the raw material of forestry industry by developing potential domestic of wood species, as well as fast-growing species. One type of fast-growing wood used is Terentang (Campnosperma auriculatum). Terentang wood has a low level of wood strength (strong class III-IV), so it is less desirable. One technology that has the potential to improve wood quality is compaction or wood compression, with a preliminary treatment of steaming or boiling wood at certain temperatures and pressures. The results of the study showed that the compaction technology applied to Terentang wood (Campnosperma auriculatum) was able to improve the physical properties of wood in moisture content, specific gravity, and dimension shrinkage, but not in the dimensions swelling. Where compressed Terentang wood has increased the strong class of Terentang wood into strong class II (0.632−0.851) seen from its specific gravity based on PKKI NI-5-1961.