TY - JOUR AU - Eduardo de Lima Melo, Luiz AU - Lopes Goulart, Selma AU - Maria Ribeiro Guimarães, Bárbara AU - Maciel Guimarães Neto, Rosalvo AU - Junqueira Sartori, Caroline AU - Tarcísio Lima, José PY - 2018/10/01 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Prediction of microfibril angle for Eucalyptus microcorys wood by fiber length and basic density JF - Maderas-Cienc Tecnol JA - Maderas-Cienc Tecnol VL - 20 IS - 4 SE - Article DO - UR - https://revistas.ubiobio.cl/index.php/MCT/article/view/3204 SP - 553-562 AB - <p>Aim of the study was to estimate the influence of the fiber length and basic density on microfibril angle of <em>Eucalyptus microcorys</em> wood. The study area was in an experimental planting at the Universidade Federal de Lavras, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Three 37 year-old <em>Eucalyptus microcorys</em> trees were used, from whose stems six centimeter-thick discs were removed, cut at a high of three meters. The disks were sanded and planed to highlight the growth rings. Specimens were taken every 1.5 cm across the radius from pith to bark for determining microfibril angle, fiber length and wood basic density. The microfibril angles were determined by use of polarized light microscopy, while the fiber morphology and basic density were determined by usual methods. The averages found for microfibril angle (12.6°), fiber length (968 µm) and basic density (480 kg.m<sup>-3</sup>) are, in general, within the range of values reported for these characteristics of wood. The microfibril angle showed accentuated reduction of the average values in the pith-bark direction. The fiber length and basic density showed the opposite behavior. We observed that the density and fiber length may be used as an microfibril angle predictor, accounting for 96% and 79% of its variation, respectively.</p> ER -