ABSTRACT

A modified cup-method to measure moisture transport in wood, exposed to a temperature gradient, Segerholm (2002), was used in the study. Samples from sapwood and heartwood of Scots pine (Pinus Silvestris), were preconditioned in either dry or humid conditions. These prerequisites were combined into four experiments, each with triple samples being exposed to a temperature gradient and triple samples functioning as reference. All samples were exposed to the same moisture gradient. The results presented include climatic conditions (temperatures and relative humidities), moisture fluxes and moisture distributions through the samples. Comparisons are made between samples that were exposed to a temperature gradient and samples functioning as reference. As could be expected, the influence of the temperature gradient is significant. Additional tests at different temperature levels will prove helpful in the future evaluation of the tests, where models of steady state, non-isothermal moisture transport in wood will be further examined.