Comparison of Drying Characteristics of Nine Native Poplars from Southwesten China

To explore and use the native poplar resources in southwest China, the 100 ℃ drying characteristics and the drying related properties of 9 native poplars were investigated. The results show that typical wet heartwood with high moisture content (MC) is found in native poplars. And there is a big difference of MC between species of poplar that is same as between wet heartwood and sapwood. Besides, nine native poplars belong to the low density category. The correlation betweenair dried shrinkage coefficient in radial or in tangential and air dried density is not obvious. The difference in shrinkage of wet heartwood and sapwood is also not significant. Wet heartwood and density are the main two factors affecting the drying behavior of 9 southwest native poplar woods while collapse is of common occurrence during poplar wood drying. Based on the above results, the drying schedule and some advices on drying of 9 native poplars were given in the paper.