Variation of the physical properties of Eucalyptus camadulensis and Eucalyptusurophylla wood

Abstract

The present work had the objective of evaluating the variations of the physical properties of the wood of Eucalyptus camadulensis and Eucalyptus urophylla. The study was carried out on the 15-year-old commercial plantation of the Manica Forestry Industry (IFLOMA) at the Messica administrative post. Five trees were randomly selected for each species. After felling, disks with a thickness of 12cm and diameter varying from 28 to 40cm were removed. Four specimens with defined dimensions of 2.5 x 2.5 x 10cm were removed from each disc, making a total of 40 specimens, 20 for each species. In these specimens, the basic density, anhydrous density, radial shrinkage, tangential shrinkage, shrinkage coefficient and moisture were measured. After data collection, an analysis of variance was performed using the statistical package called Statistix version 8.1. The averages obtained were compared using the Tukey test at 5% significance. From the results obtained, it was found that Eucalyptus camaldulensis wood is less dense, resulting in an average basic density of 0.53 g/cm-3 and 1.18 of anisotropy coefficient in relation to Eucalyptus urophylla wood with an average basic density of 0.57 g/cm-3 and 1.29 of anisotropy coefficient, based on the values of anisotropy coefficient, it can be seen that the wood of both species are dimensionally stable, and can be indicated for the furniture industry and civil construction.