CONSTRUCŢII – No. 2 / 2014 60 COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE PHYSICO-MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS FOR FIVE TYPES OF WOOD FLOORING Gabriela CĂLĂTAN 1 , Andreea HEGYI 2 , Carmen DICO 3 , Oana CAZAN 4 1 PhD Stud. Engineer INCD URBAN-INCERC Cluj-Napoca Branch, e-mail gabi_kavida@yahoo.com 2. PhD Engineer INCD URBAN-INCERC Cluj-Napoca Branch, e-mail andreea.hegyi@incerc-cluj.ro 3 Engineer INCD URBAN-INCERC Cluj-Napoca Branch, e-mail carmen.dico@incerc-cluj.ro 4 PhD Engineer INCD URBAN-INCERC Cluj-Napoca Branch, e-mail oana.cazan@incerc-cluj.ro ABSTRACT During the period 1600-1700, the first works with parquet elements at Versailles Palace were performed, but the high cost has made that the wooden floor to be an exclusivist product for a long time. Currently, in the last 30 years, the most innovations in flooring industry were aimed to improve the technological process, the easing of work, to reduce the losses of raw materials and to reduce the production costs. The experimental research conducted worldwide has shown that the wood processing technology, up to the flooring finite element, plays an important role in achieving a superior quality and durability and that the finishing systems have to be applied depending on the conditions of the area of use. This paper is a comparative study regarding the physico-mechanical characteristics for five types of wood flooring manufactured and marketed in Romania. In the experimental research, there were analyzed: the behavior of the floor assemblies under linearly distributed and concentrated loads, the thermal insulation characteristics and the slip resistance. The experimental results have shown that these characteristics are influenced by the wood species, the type of product (massive one or subjected to stratification technological processing), the thickness of lamellar flooring elements, and the chosen finishing method (varnishing, oiling). Keywords: wood, parquet; mechanical strengths; thermal conductivity; slip resistance REZUMAT În perioada anilor 1600-1700 au fost efectuate primele lucrări cu elemente de parchet din lemn la Palatul Versailles; costul ridicat a făcut însă ca pardoseala din lemn să fie mult timp un produs exclusivist. În prezent, în ultimii 30 de ani, majoritatea inovaţiilor din industria parchetului au avut drept obiectiv îmbunătăţirea procesului tehnologic, uşurarea muncii, reducerea pierderilor de materie primă şi reducerea costurilor de producţie. Cercetările experimentale desfăşurate la nivel mondial au arătat că tehnologia de prelucrare a lemnului până la elementul finit de parchet are un rol important în obţinerea unei calităţi şi durabilităţi superioare, iar sistemele de finisare trebuie să fie aplicate în funcţie de condiţiile din zona de utilizare. Lucrarea este un studiu comparativ privind caracteristicile fizico-mecanice pentru cinci tipuri de parchet de lemn fabricat şi comercializat in România. În cadrul cercetărilor experimentale au fost analizate: comportarea ansamblelor de parchet la solicitări distribuite şi concentrate, caracteristicile de izolare termică şi rezistenţa la alunecare. Rezultatele experimentale au arătat faptul că aceste caracteristici sunt influenţate de: specia lemnoasă, tipul produsului (masiv sau supus prelucrărilor tehnologice de stratificare), grosimea elementelor de parchet lamelar, precum şi de metoda de finisaj aleasă (lăcuire, uleiere). Cuvinte cheie: lemn; parchet; rezistente mecanice; conductivitate termica; rezistenta la alunecare 1. INTRODUCTION Over the time, there was a conflict between the concept of parquet as an art and the concept of parquet as a functional interior finishing material. During the years 1600-1700 the first works with parquet elements were performed. The floors finishing at Versailles Palace shaped, at that time, a real revolution in the field. For a long time, the high cost of the wooden floors made them an exclusive product. At present, due to the technological