Characterization of Hovenia dulcis wood for the manufacture of floors

Abstract

This work aimed to characterize the wood of Hovenia dulcis Thunberg, to be used in the manufacture of floors. Five trees obtained in Araucaria Forest were used for the technological characterization. The trees had, in average, 18 years old. After logging, they were measured to determine their volume. The logs were sawed into boards and blocks to determine the basic specific mass, Janka hardness (base log) and in-service floor simulation tests (middle and top logs). The boards and blocks were dried before the test samples preparation. We considered samples of 100% of heartwood and composed of heartwood and sapwood. H. dulcis was characterized as wood of medium specific mass (0.54 g cm^-³) and medium strength (5,851.99 N). For all in-service floor simulation tests, H. dulcis wood showed superior or similar resistance to other exotic species and inferior to native hardwood species found in the literature. It was concluded that the wood under study shows low strength for maximum efforts and can be used on floors for light traffic or in places where loads are low.