Abstract
Shrinkage and swelling, mechanical properties, and working qualities of wood are all related to the orientation of structural units of the cell wall. The effect of fibrillar orientation upon the heat-conducting properties of wood indicates a new technique for the selection of various qualities of wood. The differential thermal conductivity of wood in the longitudinal and transverse directions is shown to be due chiefly to the anisotropic character of the fibrils, and deviations from anticipated transverse-conductivity values, as well as longitudinal-transverse heat-conductivity ratios, are closely related to fibrillar orientation. In this paper application of longitudinal-transverse conductivity ratios is proposed particularly for the detection of mild compression wood.
