Numerical simulation ofwater absorption in softwood

Whereas water can frequently come in contact with wood-based building envelope components, little work has tried to measure and model moisture uptake in orthotropic wood. This paper presents experimental results and numerical simulations of water uptake in softwood. Water absorption coefficients were measured and shown to vary according to the orientation of the fiber grain. Helium pycnometry was employed to obtain porosity values with the intention of approximating the capillary moisture content of the wood samples. From these measurements, average diffusivities were estimated. Numerical simulations of water uptake were conducted with these values and the results compared with the corresponding experimental results. Observations on the adequacy of using average diffusivities for such modeling are made.