ACACIA DEALBATA LINK, KNOWN AS MIMOSA IN PORTUGAL, IS AN INVASIVE HARDWOOD SPECIES WITH POTENTIAL FOR CONSTRUCTION USE, BUT RESEARCH IS LIMITED. THE AVAILABLE STOCK OF SMALL-DIAMETER JUVENILE WOOD LOGS CAN HELP REDUCE THIS GAP, BUT TANGENTIAL CRACKING AT LOG ENDS CHALLENGES FASTENER CONNECTIONS. THIS STUDY EVALUATED DIFFERENT TREATMENTS TO CONTROL AND REDUCE END-FACE CRACKING IN SMALL WOOD LOGS DURING AIR DRYING, AN ECONOMICAL AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY PROCEDURE. THE EXTREME TWO-THIRDS OF SIXTEEN MIMOSA LOGS WERE SUBJECTED TO TWO TREATMENTS: ONE WITH LONGITUDINAL KERFS 15 MM DEEP ALONG THE LENGTH (TWO AND THREE KERFS) AND THE OTHER WITH A HOLLOW IN THE CENTER UP TO HALF THE LENGTH (16 MM AND 30 MM DIAMETERS). OVER 219 DAYS OF AIR DRYING AND COMPARED WITH THE CENTRAL PART, KERFING TREATMENTS SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED OUTER-WOOD TANGENTIAL CRACKING (P < 0.001), WITH THE THREE KERFS ALSO REDUCING CRACK NUMBERS (P < 0.05) BUT INCREASING SIGNIFICANTLY CRACKS NEAR THE PITH (P < 0.01). THE 30 MM CENTRAL HOLLOW SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED CENTRAL PERFORATION CRACKING (P < 0.05). PROSPECTIVELY, THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT A COMBINED TREATMENT APPROACH INVOLVING CROSS-CUTS COULD HELP REDUCE AND/OR CONTROL END CRACKING, THEREBY IMPROVING THE SUITABILITY OF WILD MIMOSA LOGS FOR CONSTRUCTION USE.

THIS STUDY PROVIDES A PRELIMINARY MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF MINIMALLY PROCESSED ACACIA DEALBATA LOGS TO ASSESS THEIR POTENTIAL VALORISATION AS A BY-PRODUCT OF INVASIVE SPECIES MANAGEMENT. A TOTAL OF 45 LOGS (90-143 MM DIAMETER) FROM TWO HARVEST SEASONS GROUPS, SPRING (17 LOGS, 2.0 M) AND WINTER (28 LOGS, 2.4 M), WERE VISUALLY SELECTED AND EVALUATED FOR DYNAMIC MODULUS OF ELASTICITY USING LONGITUDINAL STRESS WAVE AND TRANSVERSE VIBRATION TESTS. TESTING WAS CONDUCTED IN TWO MOISTURE CONTENT STATES: AIR-DRIED (> 12%) AND KILN-DRIED (? 12%). SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS NECESSITATED SEPARATE ANALYSES AND SUGGESTED A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HARVESTING SEASON AND PHYSICAL-MECHANICAL PROPERTIES. ALTHOUGH DYNAMIC PROPERTIES INCREASED POST-KILN DRYING, INITIAL DYNAMIC MODULUS OF ELASTICITY VALUES WERE LOWER DUE TO ELEVATED INITIAL MOISTURE CONTENT. VISUAL CHARACTERISTICS EXHIBITED WEAK CORRELATIONS WITH DYNAMIC PROPERTIES, WHEREAS HIGH CORRELATIONS WERE OBSERVED BETWEEN ADJUSTED DYNAMIC MODULUS OF ELASTICITY VALUES FOR BOTH MOISTURE STATES (R > 0,90 FOR LONGITUDINAL STRESS WAVE; R > 0,70 FOR TRANSVERSE VIBRATION). ADJUSTED DYNAMIC MODULUS OF ELASTICITY VALUES (18,29/14,00 GPA FOR LONGITUDINAL STRESS WAVE; 16,32/12,69 GPA FOR TRANSVERSE VIBRATION) WERE COMPARABLE TO PRIOR STUDIES AND SUPPORT A POTENTIAL CLASSIFICATION OF ACACIA DEALBATA (MIMOSA) LOGS FOR STRUCTURAL APPLICATIONS.