MODELING WOOD MOISTURE SORPTION HYSTERESIS USING THE INDEPENDENT-DOMAIN THEORY

The mathematical modeling of wood moisture sorption hysteresis provide s a means of correlating and interpolating experimental sorption data, which are often limited and are time-consuming to generate. The model may be incorporated in numerical treatments of wood-moisture relation s such as wood drying or may provide better insights as to how water i s held in wood. This paper introduces the application of the theory of independent domains to sorption hysteresis in yellow poplar. From the experimental sorption boundary curves and a family of primary desorpt ion scanning curves, a grid of values is generated and then used to ma thematically obtain several primary adsorption scanning curves, and se condary and tertiary scanning curves. The implication of the theory's assumptions to current understanding of wood-water interaction is brie fly discussed.