Effects of aging on wood: a literature review

Knowledge of wood aging and the property changes of aged wood compared with recent wood are crucial for conservation of wooden cultural heritage objects and historic buildings constructed of wood and also for the reuse of old construction wood. Therefore, a thorough literature review is presented about the different aspects of wood aging to provide a database for further investigations. One focus lies on the different kinds of aging: natural aging under aerobic and anaerobic storage conditions in contrast to accelerated aging under heat treatment. Further, influencing factors like wood treatment and long-term loading on the aging process are discussed. Property changes of naturally aged wood that has been stored under aerobic conditions are also researched. The resulting chemical, physical, and mechanical changes are thus discussed as well as any changes in color.