Effects of the knife-incising and kerfing pretreatment on moisture content and surface check occurrence of douglas-fir heavy timber

This study was carried out to confirm the effects of the knife-incising and kerfing pretreatment on the moisture content and surface check occurrence of Douglas-fir heavy timber. In the case of moisture content, the moisture gradient that formed in the inner part of the specimen was observed in all specimens. In addition, the moisture gradient was formed differently from the surface layer to 72 mm depending on the pretreatment conditions, and it was formed gradually in the kerfing than the knife-incising. In addition, it was found that the solid volume should be considered when measuring the average moisture content. In the case of surface check, the surface check occurrence was reduced in the knife-incising, kerfing, and the combination of knife-incising and kerfing than the control. In particular, the kerfing treatment was shown that the expansion of surface check width was effectively suppressed. In the case of knife-incising treatment, although the surface check was less than the control, the preventive effect on the surface check occurrence did not reach the level of the kerfing treatment.