ABSTRACT
This chapter refers to a chemical treatment that may reduce some defects relative to wood utilization and enhance its properties while keeping the bulk of the superior mechanical properties of wood. In order to characterize the ability of a chemical treatment to stabilize viscoelastic properties of wood, the chapter examines the relationship between the structural modifications and changes in properties. It proposes a classification of chemically modified woods and analyses their viscoelastic properties including creep and dynamic mechanical properties along the grain in relation to the type of chemical modification involved. Wood is supposed to be equivalent to a parallel arrangement of three components, cellulosic fibrils (f), amorphous matrix (m), and lumens containing air only (a). Creep of chemically modified woods along the grain was measured in three-point bending tests at 30°C using humidity cycles between 29% RH and 86%RH.
