Comparison of thermal expansion of wood and epoxy adhesives

Epoxy-based adhesives are used both in the consolidation of decayed timbers and for new structural joints. Investigating the compatibility of wood and epoxy adhesives provides a better knowledge of the long-term behaviour of wood-epoxy joints. Besides mechanical compatibility, also temperature-related parameters are relevant in this context. The values of the thermal expansion coefficients (TEC) of two wood species (Spruce, Picea abies and Iroko, Clorophora excelsa) and four different epoxy resins have been compared using a modified test method that allows for nearly iso-hygric conditions of the wood specimens. Minor differences in TEC have been observed between wood in the transversal-to-the-grain direction and an experimental epoxy adhesive, which is considered highly compatible with wood on the basis of mechanical and ageing tests. Other commercial epoxy adhesives show greater differences in terms of TEC and a proportionally decreasing mechanical compatibility. According to these results, the evaluation of thermal properties can be considered very useful for a modelling approach to predict the long term behaviour of wood-epoxy adhesive interface.