Properties of Red Oak Lumber Dried By Radio-Frequency/Vacuum Process and Dehumidification Process

Matched pairs of red oak lumber were dried by two different processes: dehumidification (DH) and radio-frequency/vacuum (RFV). The DH drying took approximately 35 days to dry the lumber to 8 percent moisture content, while the RFV drying took only 60 hours. The specific gravity (SG) and equilibrium moisture content (EMC) of dried lumber were slightly and significantly higher than those of RFV dried lumber. The lumber dried by DH had a slightly higher average compressive strength, bending stiffness and strength, shear strength, and hardness. However, a statistical comparison revealed that the differences in mechanical properties were not significant except for compressive strength. For practical purposes, the DH and RFV drying processes produced red oak lumber with equal mechanical properties but slightly different SG and EMC.

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