Hysteresis in swelling and in sorption of wood tissue

The swelling and shrinkage of four Picea abies (L. Karst) wood tissue homogeneous samples, of porosity varying between 45% and 78%, is documented with high-resolution synchrotron radiation phase-contrast X-ray tomographic microscopy. We report measurements of the reversible moisture-induced orthotropic swelling/shrinkage strains. Hysteresis is observed when the swelling/shrinkage strain is considered as a function of relative humidity, except for the very high porosity sample. Hysteresis is no longer present when swelling/shrinkage strains are considered versus moisture content, indicating that wood deforms to the same extent whether an amount of moisture is desorbed or adsorbed. Furthermore, swelling anisotropy, in the tangential and radial directions, is found to increase with increasing porosity. The most homogeneous behaviour for a group of cells is found for 30–50 cells, smaller/larger groups having higher orders of variations.