Avaliação do potencial de uso de Eucalyptus saligna Smith e Eucalyptus dunnii Maiden para produção de dormentes

Abstract

Since the early railway history for over 150 years, permanent way of railways, has been built with the use of sleepers made of wood. The sleeper is the main element that is the railroad. Over time a structure has been constantly improved and adapted to the increase in the Q axis, the speeds of the vehicles along the durability of the sleepers. In 2012 it was announced by the government an economic package for the construction of 10,000 kilometers of new railways in Brazil in the amount of R$ 133 billion. Eucalyptus has responded satisfactorily when used for this purpose, despite having some limiting as the strong tendency to cracking and splitting, as drawn up or sawn, and the low durability. Thus, the present study was to evaluate the potential use of the species Eucalyptus saligna and Eucalyptus dunnii for production of railroad ties, assessing the performance of the production process through the increase of defects presented during the drying step. The species with the highest rate of return was the Eucalyptus saligna, with (87.46%) against (81.75%) of Eucalyptus dunnii after drying hence lower incidence of defects. Both species were able to made railways, therefore did not differ statistically in the mean comparison test. The defect with the highest percentage of incidence was the top of cracking, with over 50% of the defects in the two species. Highlights a need for better control of moisture content during drying in order to mitigate their effects. Thereby increasing productivity and minimizing the cost of production, providing higher profit margin for the company.