Analysis of factors influencing the parameters of the electromagnetic field in wood during HF drying

The paper aims at improving high-frequency drying chambers by increasing uniformity of the drying process. In this paper we demonstrate the research results of influence of the sizes of spaces and air gaps located between the vertical electrodes and a timber pile on the uniformity and the magnitude of an electric field strength in wood. It is shown that the elecrtomagnetic process in the cross sections of the timber pile may be described as a quasy-stationary. The corresponding mathematical apparatus describing the distribution of the field in a HF chamber is presented in the paper. Computational experiments were conducted with a help of the program complex “ELCUT”. The results of the experiments were processed by the methods of the experiment planning theory and statistical data analysis. The dependencies of the heterogeneity coefficient and the medium strength of the electric field in wood on the stated (given) geometrical parameters of the timber pile were defined. We came to particular conclusions about the degree of their impact on the electromagnetic field parameters.