COLOR CHANGE OF BEECH MATURE WOOD AND FALSE HEARTWOOD THROUGH ACCELERATED AGEING PROCESS
Keywords:
beech wood; false heartwood; mature wood; wood color; color difference; color dispersion; accelerated aging.Abstract
The differences in the surface color of beech mature wood and false heartwood in the process of simulated aging induced by UV radiation in a Q-SUN Xe-3-HS xenon test chamber for 360 hours are presented in the paper. Color measurement in the color space CIE L*a*b* on exposed surfaces of beech wood samples was performed with a Color Reader CR-10 colorimeter. During exposure, the course of changes in individual coordinates (L*, a*, b*) of the color space CIE L*a*b* was recorded. The resulting change in wood color was evaluated through the overall color change. The surface of mature beech wood darkened from a light white-gray color with a yellow tinge to a red-brown color shade during exposure to UV radiation in a xenon test chamber. On the contrary, the surface of beech false heartwood slightly lightened from the original red-brown color to its paler shade. The magnitude of color changes on the surfaces of beech mature wood and false heartwood caused by UV radiation indicates the values of the total color difference for mature wood ∆Emw* = 15.8 and for false heartwood ∆Efhw* = 10.
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