AN OBJECTIVE METHOD TO ANALYSE SOME MICROSCOPIC CHARACTERISTICS OF TWO SECONDARY BEECH WOOD RESOURCES

Lidia GURAU
Conf.dr. ing.- Universitatea Transilvania din Brasov- Facultatea de Industria Lemnului
Address: B-dul Eroilor nr.29, 500036 Brasov, Romania
Tel/Fax: 0040 268 415315. E-mail: lidiagurau@unitbv.ro

Maria Cristina TIMAR
Prof.dr. ing. - Universitatea Transilvania din Brasov- Facultatea de Industria Lemnului
E-mail: cristinatimar@unitbv.ro

Marina CIONCA
Prof.dr. ing. - Universitatea Transilvania din Brasov- Facultatea de Industria Lemnului
E-mail: marinacionca@unitbv.ro

Alin OLARESCU
Dr.ing. - Universitatea Transilvania din Brasov- Facultatea de Industria Lemnului
E-mail: a.olarescu@unitbv.ro

Ramona DUMITRASCU
Drd.ing. - Universitatea Transilvania din Brasov- Facultatea de Industria Lemnului
E-mail: dumitrascu.ramona@yahoo.com

Abstract:Two of the most ignored secondary resources, the branches and the juvenile wood from forest thinnings, mainly used as firewood, are insufficiently known and exploited in spite of limited natural resources. They could be used in new added value products as an alternative to stem wood, provided their characteristics are known and understood.
        This paper analyses the microscopic structure of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) from specimens of branch wood and juvenile wood from thinnings in relation with the microscopic structure of mature stem wood of the same species.
        Compared with a subjective visual examination of the micrographs, a specialised image analysis software was used, because it offers an objective quantitative method to separate, measure and statistical data process for some anatomical features of interest.
        The results have shown that both the branch beech wood and the juvenile wood from thinnings have smaller pores than the mature beech stem wood. Among all three materials investigated, the branch wood had the most numerous pores, while in the juvenile wood their occurence was the most seldom.
        Given the wood variability, a greater number of specimens for each type of material should be used in further analysis in order to claim objective value ranges for every type of measurements.

Key words: branch wood, juvenile wood from thinnings, microscopy, image analysis.

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