A STUDY OF INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMIDITY AND EQUILIBRIUM MOISTURE CONTENT OF WOODS

The present study has been conducted to highlight the impact of change in relative humidity on the moisture contents of different kind of woods. Quite often, one finds that the doors and window frames exhibit different dimensions in the month of rainy seasons and hot summers. Such problems are more prominent in the areas witnessing significant changes in relative humidity level over the entire year period as compared to those where relative humidity remain in a constant range throughout the year. The engineers and interior decorators are therefore required to take into consideration this behavior of wood while using wood for constructing furniture, wooden floors and ceiling ,etc. to prevent any deformity in the structure at a later date. Preventive measures such as leaving gaps between two adjacent pieces of woods or filling up with some other material may be used to deal with this kind of problem. Further, the amount of dimensional change also varies with the kind of wood being used. The study has been conducted in Delhi-NCR region which faces phenomenal changes in the relative humidity level in one year time and therefore many people experiences such problem in their wooden doors and windows. Under this study, different pieces of Teak and Black Oak wood having same dimensions were exposed to varying level of relative humidity in different months and the change in their dimensions were recorded. Statistical tests ? t-test and ANOVA were used to test the statistical differences in the dimensions and inferences have been drawn. Based on the observations, meaningful conclusion and suggestions have been made.