Effect of Keruing and Meranti Wood Extracts on the Nail Corrosion Rate

Many houses and wooden constructions in East Kalimantan Province use keruing and meranti wood. Local carpenters widely use ordinary and concrete nails to join the wood. One of the factors affecting the corrosion rate of nails in wood is the extractive compound. Unfortunately, the amounts and types of keruing and meranti wood extractives and their effects on the corrosion rates of ordinary and concrete nails have not been studied. This study aimed to determine the amount and types of keruing and meranti wood extractives and their effects on the corrosion rates of ordinary and concrete nails. Wood extractive content was determined according to TAPPI 204 cm-97. A gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer test determined the chemical compound content of wood extractives. The electrochemical test measured the corrosion rate according to modified ASTM 199-09. The study showed that keruing wood contained 3.83% extractives and was dominated by cyclic carbon compounds. Meranti wood contained 1.97% extractives, and contained sulfurous acid, cyclohexylmethyl pentadecyl ester, which is acidic and therefore accelerates the rate of nail corrosion faster than keruing wood extractives. The lowest corrosion rate was found on cocrete nails in keruing wood extractive media, 0.65104 μm/year. The highest corrosion rate was found in ordinary nail in meranti wood extractives, 3.7434 μm/year. The nail corrosion rate in the keruing wood extractive media was lower than in the meranti wood extractive media.