# Wood thermal conductivity¶

chemics.wood_thermal_conductivity.k_wood(gb, so, x)[source]

Thermal conductivity of wood based on moisture content, volumetric shrinkage, and basic specific gravity

$k = G_x (B + C x) + A$

where $$k$$ is thermal conductivity [W/(mK)] of wood, $$G_x$$ is specific gravity [-] based on volume at moisture content $$x$$ [%] and $$A, B, C$$ are constants.

The $$G_x$$ term is determined from

$G_x = \frac{G_b}{1 - S_x / 100}$

where $$G_b$$ is basic specific gravity [-] and $$S_x$$ is volumetric shrinkage [%] from green condition to moisture content $$x$$.

The $$S_x$$ term is calculated from

$S_x = S_o \left(1 - \frac{x}{MC_{fs}} \right)$

where $$S_o$$ is volumetric shrinkage [%] from Table 4-3 1 and $$MC_{fs}$$ is the fiber saturation point assumed to be 30% moisture content.

Parameters
• gb (float) – Basic specific gravity [-]

• so (float) – Volumetric shrinkage [%]

• x (float) – Moisture content [%]

Returns

k (float) – Thermal conductivity [W/(mK)]

Example

>>> k_wood(0.54, 12.3, 10)
0.1567


References

1

Samuel V. Glass and Samuel L. Zelinka. Moisture Relations and Physical Properties of Wood. Ch. 4 in Wood Handbook, pp. 1-19, 2010.