Moisture Sorption and Ultrasonic Velocity of Artificially Weathered Sitka Spruce

Small Sitka spruce specimens of 50${\times}$ were artificially weathered in a chamber equipped with 340mm xenon arc and water spray as part of the accelerated-weathering cycle. Specimens were exposed to only ultraviolet or ultraviolet with water spray for 10 and 20 hours. Physical properties of the weathered specimens were investigated by colorimetry, sorption and ultrasonic testing methods. The longer exposed to ultraviolet the less bright were the specimens. It was revealed that the water spray treatment accelerated the loss of brightness and increased the wettability. Among the specimens exposed to ultraviolet with water spray the specimens treated for 10 hours showed greater wettability than those for 20 hours, which might lose the wettability due to the excessive degradation on their surfaces. The ultrasonic velocities of the weathered specimens were obviously higher than those of the unweathered. It is considered that the accelerated weathering either increases the modulus of elasticity of wood or decrease the density of wood