The transverse compression behavior of wood in high temperature (150, 160, and 170°C) and saturated steam conditions was studied. The effect of the temperature on the stress-strain response, nonlinear strain function, and relative density change was examined by a modified Hooke's law based on the load-compression behavior of flexible foams. The influence of environmental conditions during compression on the set recovery of the compression deformation was determined. It was found that temperature and moisture content affected the compression behavior of wood in saturated steam conditions. A small difference in moisture content of specimens compressed at 160 and 170°C caused approximately the same stress-strain and relative density curves with minimum temperature affect on the compression behavior. The compressive modulus of the wood and cell wall modulus were found to decrease with increasing temperature from 150 to 160°C with no change when increased to 170°C. The densification region was entered at notably lower stress levels at 160 and 170°C when compared with 150°C. The results established that temperature and moisture content did not affect the nonlinear strain function at strain levels lower than 0.63. Furthermore, it was found that the set recovery of compressive deformation decreased with increasing temperature of compression from 150 to 160°C. In addition, the results showed that compression at 160 and 170°C significantly lowered the equilibrium moisture content
