Method for estimating air-drying times of lumber

Published information on estimated air-drying times of lumber is of limited usefulness because it is restricted to a specific location or to the time of year the lumber is stacked for drying. At best, these estimates give a wide range of possible times over a broad range of possible locations and stacking dates. In this paper, we describe a method for estimating air-drying times for specific locations by optimizing a drying simulation using existing experimental air-drying times for northern red oak, sugar maple, American beech, yellow-poplar, ponderosa pine, and Douglas-fir. The results of the optimization are simulation parameters that make it possible to estimate the air-drying times of these species regardless of when they are stacked, in any location where average temperature and relative humidity are known, and for lumber of any thickness dried to any final moisture content.

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