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Wood Science Formulas

Moisture, shrinkage, density and kiln-drying equations.

VPD Calculator

VPD Calculator
Saturation Vapor Pressure (Magnus/Tetens):
VPD Calculator
SVP = 0.6108 x exp( (17.27 x T) / (T + 237.3) ) T in deg C, result kPa
Actual Vapor Pressure
AVP = SVP x (RH / 100)
VPD Calculator
VPD = SVP - AVP = SVP x (1 - RH/100)
VPD Calculator
Wet-bulb to RH (psychrometric, simplified Bogel approximation)

Green Weight Calculator

Green Weight Calculator
Oven-dry mass = Volume x Basic Density
Green Weight Calculator
Weight at MC% = Oven-dry mass x (1 + MC/100)
Green Weight Calculator
Green weight = Oven-dry mass x (1 + Green_MC/100)
Green Weight Calculator
Water to remove = Weight_current - Weight_target
Green Weight Calculator
Basic density = oven-dry mass / green volume (kg/m3)

Moisture Tracking Tool

Moisture Tracking Tool
MC% = (Wet weight - Oven-dry weight) / Oven-dry weight x 100
Moisture Tracking Tool
Drying rate = (Previous MC - Current MC) / Days elapsed
Moisture Tracking Tool
Days to target = (Current MC - Target MC) / Drying rate
Moisture Tracking Tool
Progress % = (Start - Current) / (Start - Target) x 100
Stall
drying rate near zero while MC still above target

Kiln Schedule Finder

Kiln Schedule Finder
Drying time ~ k x Thickness^2 x severity_factor x ln(MC1/MC2)
Thicker boards
time scales roughly with the square of thickness
Kiln Schedule Finder
Schedule steps decrease wet-bulb (raise temp) as MC drops
Kiln Schedule Finder
Target EMC at each step is set ~2-4% below current wood MC
Kiln type factor
Vacuum ~0.3x, Conventional 1.0x, Solar ~1.8x time

Shrinkage Predictor

MC change below FSP
dMC = (MC_start - MC_final), capped at FSP
Shrinkage Predictor
Shrinkage % = S_total x (dMC_below_fsp / FSP)
Shrinkage Predictor
where S_total = radial or tangential total shrinkage coefficient
Shrinkage Predictor
Dimension change = Original x (Shrinkage% / 100)
Shrinkage Predictor
Volumetric ~ Radial% + Tangential% (small-strain approximation)
Shrinkage Predictor
T/R ratio = Tangential / Radial (warp risk: under 1.5 stable, over 2.0 high)

EMC Calculator

Hailwood-Horrobin (USDA FPL standard)
EMC Calculator
W = 330 + 0.452xT + 0.00415xT^2 (T in deg F)
EMC Calculator
k = 0.791 + 0.000463xT - 0.000000844xT^2
EMC Calculator
k1 = 6.34 + 0.000775xT - 0.0000935xT^2
EMC Calculator
k2 = 1.09 + 0.0284xT - 0.0000904xT^2
EMC Calculator
EMC = (1800/W) x [kh/(1-kh) + (k1kh + 2k1k2k^2h^2)/(1 + k1kh + k1k2k^2h^2)]
EMC Calculator
where h = RH/100

Acclimation Calculator

Acclimation Calculator
Target EMC from room T and RH (Hailwood-Horrobin)
Acclimation Calculator
MC gap = | Current wood MC - Target EMC |
Acclimation Calculator
Acclimation days ~ base x thickness_factor x gap_factor x airflow_factor
Acclimation Calculator
Thicker boards and poor airflow increase the time sharply
Acclimation Calculator
Ready when wood MC is within ~1-2% of room EMC

Fiber Saturation Calculator

Fiber Saturation Calculator
MC from mass = (Wet mass - Oven-dry mass) / Oven-dry mass x 100
Fiber Saturation Calculator
FSP temperature adjust = FSP_20 - 0.1 x (T - 20) (T in deg C)
Fiber Saturation Calculator
Free water (above FSP) = max(0, MC - FSP)
Fiber Saturation Calculator
Bound water = min(MC, FSP)
Below FSP
shrinkage and strength changes begin