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Modelling the risk for mould growth on timber stored outdoors protected from rain
2013 - IRG/WP 13-20529
A mould resistance design (MRD) model was used to calculate the maximum duration of storage of timber outdoors under cover (protected from rain) before the onset of mould growth on the surface of wood. The prediction model is based on laboratory tests performed in constant and cyclic climates and were also confirmed against exposure tests in attics and crawl spaces. The prediction model presented ...
E Frühwald Hansson, S Bardage, S Thelandersson


Using hyperspectral imaging to detect and quantify mould and blue stain on coated and uncoated wood
2014 - IRG/WP 14-10822
Hyperspectral imaging has been applied on the surface of samples of coated and uncoated Norway spruce (Picea abies) as a new technique to detect and quantify growth of mould and blue stain fungi. Principal Component Analysis of the hyperspectral images resulted in a clear visualization of the fungi and the amount of mould coverage could be estimated. This indicates that NIR hyperspectral imaging c...
L Ross Gobakken, I Burud, A Flø, K Kvaal, T K Thiis


Three-year field test of preservative-treated Canadian species in Korea
2014 - IRG/WP 14-30646
The purpose of this study was to generate field performance data in Korea on Canadian softwood species preservative-treated to Canadian standards. Two field tests of preservative-treated Canadian softwood species, one in ground contact and one above ground, were installed in Jinju, Korea in November 2010. Western hemlock and white spruce were incised and pressure-treated with alkaline copper quate...
Jieying Wang, Jong Bum Ra, P I Morris


Copper and chromium leaching from wood impregnated with chromium-copper containing preservatives: Results of different studies
2014 - IRG/WP 14-50300
Copper and chromium based wood preservatives remained one of the most important ingredients for wood protection solutions for protection of wood in demanding applications all-over the world. Leaching of heavy metals from treated wood is important from two different aspects; firstly from performance point of view, and secondly from environmental issues. However, the importance of these studies is i...
M Humar, N Thaler, E Melcher


Influence of artificial and natural weathering on water exclusion efficacy of wood
2015 - IRG/WP 15-20559
Water exclusion efficacy (WEE) is one of the most important properties of wood that contributes to the overall performance of naturally durable wood species in outdoor above ground applications. WEE is in strong correlation with moisture dynamics of wood, its hydrophobicity and can indicates susceptibility against wood decay fungi. Despite of the importance of this parameter, WEE is not completely...
M Žlahtič, M Humar


Introduction of the COST FP 1303 Cooperative Performance Test
2015 - IRG/WP 15-20567
COST Action FP 1303 “Performance of bio-based building materials” successfully started in October 2013 and an ambitious program was set up for the four year programme. COST Actions provide an excellent opportunity for collaborative research, e.g. in the frame of Round Robin tests. The idea of this respective test was to distribute a fairly simple test set up to as many places in Europe as poss...
M Humar, C Brischke, L Meyer, B Lesar, N Thaler, D Jones, S Bardage, C Belloncle, J Van den Bulcke, J M Abascal, G Alfredsen, D Baisch, B Brunnhuber, G Cofta, E Grodås, E Frühwald Hansson, M Irle, H Kallakas, J Kers, M Klamer, P Larsson Brelid, A B Maider, K C Mahnert, E Melcher, R Möller, M Noël, L Nunes, G A Ormondroyd, S Palanti, N Pfabigan, A Pilgård, A O Rapp, P Schumacher, E Suttie, T Teppand, M Touza, J Van Acker


Mould growth on spruce claddings and the effect of selected influencing factors after 4 years of outdoor testing
2015 - IRG/WP 15-30671
Norway spruce (Picea abies) is the most frequently chosen wood species as claddings in façades in Norway, and is used both coated and uncoated. The visual changes that occur during weathering can be colour changes, abrasion or wear, blistering, flaking, and even cracks in the wood or coating, but more often growth of mould and blue stain fungi is the main challenge. A field test with synchronous monitoring of relative humidity, air temperature, material temperature and wood moisture content in Norway spruce claddings has been performed in southern Norway as part of the ClimateLife project. Visual evaluation of blue stain and mould growth according to EN 927-3 was performed, and evaluation data after 46 months exposure is presented. The objectives were to study the effect of 1) environment, 2) cardinal direction and 3) colour of the coated surface on growth of blue stain and mould fungi and to study the variation in relative humidity, air temperature, wood moisture content and material temperature. After 46 months exposure, the red coating system had generally the lowest mould ratings and the uncoated claddings had the highest. Of the white coloured claddings the ones facing south had lower mould ratings than those facing north, but the opposite were found for red coloured claddings. The relative humidity was higher in front of claddings exposed northwards and in a shaded environment compared to an open environment against south. In an open environment red coloured claddings had the lowest wood moisture content and highest material temperature, and red coloured claddings against south had the highest maximum material temperature.
L Ross Gobakken, G I Vestøl


Performance of copper treated poles and posts after three to fifteen years of exposure
2016 - IRG/WP 16-20595
Copper based wood preservatives are one of the most important wood preservatives for heavy-duty applications. Wood treated with copper-based preservatives performs excellent if applied according to preservative specifications. If used improperly premature failures might appear. In order to elucidate properties of copper treated wood in use, utility poles and posts treated with copper-based preserv...
M Humar, N Thaler


Moisture monitoring in WW2 partisan hospital Franja
2016 - IRG/WP 16-20596
Material climate of wood used for construction of WW2 Partisan hospital Franja was monitored for approximately one year. Partisan hospital is located in the bottom of tiny gorge Pasice in Slovenia. Hence, wood moisture content on eight respective location and wood temperature was determined twice per day with Scanntronik equipment Gigamodul and Thermofox. The results clearly showed that despite of...
M Humar, N Thaler, B Lesar, A Žagar


Investigation of enzymatic effect on pit membranes by light and scanning electron microscopy
2016 - IRG/WP 16-40721
Spruce wood, one of the refractory wood species has pit membranes, which has an influence on the permeability of wood providing liquid flow between the wood cells. However, these membranes tend to close under the fiber saturated point (FSD), which makes impregnation more difficult. In this study spruce sapwood samples were treated with two different commercial enzymes to improve the permeability o...
S Durmaz, Ü C Yildiz, M Öztürk, B Serdar


Superhydrophobic treatment of Norway spruce wood for improvement of its resistance against brown rot and moulds
2016 - IRG/WP 16-40734
Water repellence of wood can be increased and its some other properties influenced by introduction of hydrophobic chemicals into and on cell walls without affecting the wood’s bulk density due to lumen filling. Herein, a simple dipping method to insert octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) into cell walls and to deposit the self-assembled hydrophobic monolayers (SAMs) of OTS is reported. It was found o...
A Kumar, P Ryparová, P Hajek, B Kričej, M Pavlič, A S Škapin, M Šernek, J Tywoniak, J Žigon, M Petrič


Improvement of wood properties by impregnation with liquefied spruce bark based resins
2016 - IRG/WP 16-40761
In this paper, biobased phenolic thermosetting resins are designed to be used as wood stabilization treatment. The originality of the study stands in substituting part of phenol by spruce (picea abies) bark: this is achieved by a liquefaction process in phenol in the presence of sulfuric acid as catalyst. Next, thermosetting resins are synthetized from liquefied bark by condensation on formaldehy...
X Duret, E Fredon, E Masson, P Gérardin


COST FP 1303 Cooperative Performance Test – Results after two years outdoor exposure
2017 - IRG/WP 17-20620
COST Action FP 1303 ‘Performance of Bio-Based Building Materials’ started in October 2013 and an ambitious program was set up for four years. Among this a collaborative field test was planned. The idea of the cooperative performance test was to distribute a fairly simple test set up to as many places in Europe as possible in order to collect performance data reflecting the full range of climat...
B Lesar, M Humar, C Brischke, L Meyer-Veltrup, D Jones, N Thaler, J M Abascal, G Alfredsen, B Brunnhuber, E Grodås, M Irle, J Kers, M Klamer, K-C Mahnert, E Melcher, S Palanti, M Noël, E Suttie, N Pfabigan, M Touza


Performance of Norway spruce bridge in North-West Spain after 12 years exposure
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40796
Across Europe is very common to find bridges build in sawn and glue-laminated wood. Most of these bridges used softwood wood species such as: fir, spruce, larch and pine. In Spain wooden bridges, became more and more popular since nineties, when sawn and glue-laminated wood were utilized for building exterior wooden structures in overall Spain. This material, sawn and glue-laminated wood, are ma...
D Lorenzo, J Fernández-Golfín, M Touza, M Guaita, A Lozano, J Benito


The Effects of Pre-Microwave Treatment on Retention Levels And Some Mechanical Properties of Spruce Wood Treated with CCA
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40800
Microwave (MW) treatment of wood has been evaluated in recent years for different purposes by several scientists. Microwave conditioning improves permeability, reduces density and heat conductivity and changes dimensional stability. Furthermore, it could even improve the permeability of refractory wood species such as spruce and Douglas fir. In this study, MW pre-treatment was applied to spruce wo...
E D Gezer, S Kuştaş, S Durmaz


Decay resistance of beams made from thermally modified Scots pine and Norway spruce after 6 years’ exposure in ground contact
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40806
In the present study the resistance of beams treated by ThermoWood® process was studied in ground contact and the results given are based on a “modified” EN 252 test. After six years’ exposure clear differences were found between untreated Scots pine and Norway spruce beams and treated ones. In all cases thermal modification improved the performance. Thermally modified pine heartwood showed...
S Metsä-Kortelainen, H Viitanen


Charring of Norway spruce wood surface – an alternative surface modification technique?
2019 - IRG/WP 19-40870
Charring is an old wood surface treatment technique, mainly performed on wooden façade elements with the aesthetical aims, but also with the purpose of protection. This flame treatment method can be grouped into heat treatment processes. Below the top charred layer of damaged wood there is a layer which is during flame treatment exposed to high temperatures in anoxic or semi-anoxic conditions. Th...
M Petric, M Pavlic, J Zigon


Performance of a water-borne stain on beech, spruce, MDF and OSB improved by plasma pre-treatment
2020 - IRG/WP 20-40897
Coatings are an important part of wood protection, especially for outdoor applications. In order to provide a good protection, protective coatings need to exhibit good adhesion, mechanical resistance, and weathering resistance. Plasma pre-treatments are an established method to increase the performance of existing coatings including those on wood and wood-based substrates. Moreover, plasma deposit...
S Dahle, J Žigon, I Uranjek, M Petrič


Monitoring uptake and penetration of pesticides during impregnation of pine (Pinus sylvestris) and spruce (Picea abies) wood with bio-based microemulsion gel formulations
2020 - IRG/WP 20-30756
Even in dry state wood is susceptible to biological degradation. Preservation against biological decay in exposed conditions is conventionally achieved by impregnating the wood with pesticides applied at professional and industrial levels. Impregnation of wood with preservatives is a complex process that involves wood macro- and microstructure, and the physical characteristics of woods. Here we fo...
D Messaoudi, K Ruel, J-P Joseleau


Influence of weathering on surface roughness of thermally modified wood
2021 - IRG/WP 21-40915
Thermally modified wood is exposed to weathering similarly as other wood-based building materials. It has been reported that if thermally modified wood is exposed to weathering, its moisture performance might decrease fairly fast. The aim of this study was to determine whether this phenomenon is associated with crack formations or roughness. Norway spruce, thermally modified spruce, wax-treated th...
E Kerzic, B Lesar, M Humar


Occurrence of synanthropic beetles (Coleoptera Ptinidae) and checkered beetles (Coleoptera Cleridae) in relation to climatic factors in historical buildings from North-Eastern Germany
2021 - IRG/WP 21-10980
Predatory checkered beetles occur in many historical buildings. Thus, it is essential to learn more about the ecology of these beetles, specifically for their further use as suitable beneficial organisms in biological control of wood-destroying insects. In this study, indoor climatic conditions were examined as a major factor influencing their occurrence and that of their prey Anobium punctatum an...
C Baar, C von Laar, M Willert, H Bombeck


Genetic relationships of local infestations by Anobium punctatum, Xestobium rufovillosum and their associated predator Korynetes caeruleus from buildings in North-Eastern Germany
2021 - IRG/WP 21-10982
Wood-destroying pests such as Anobium punctatum and Xestobium rufovillosum cause damage to art and cultural objects as well as to buildings. Monitoring population dynamics of pest species as well as of their naturally occurring counterparts are an essential part in the development of biological control measures as alternatives to conventional wood protection. Therefore, both the dispersal and homo...
C von Laar, C Baar, R Plarre, D P McMahon


Studies on the material resistance and moisture dynamics of Douglas fir and Sitka spruce from Slovenia
2021 - IRG/WP 21-20677
Wood in outdoor applications is subject to various decomposition factors. Wood degradation can be prevented by construction details, biocide protection of wood, wood modification, or selection of naturally durable wood species. Unfortunately, the majority of timber species in Europe do not have naturally durable wood. Imported tree species represent a new pool from which we can draw wood species w...
M Humar, B Lesar, D Krzisnik, E Kerzic, R Brus


Performance of wood exterior structures above ground in Spain. Performance and durability of a shelter of spruce in a shopping centre after 20 years
2022 - IRG/WP 22-20680
Across Europe is very common to find wood exterior structures mainly build in sawn and glue-laminated wood. Most of these exterior wood structures use softwood wood species such as: fir, spruce, pine or douglas. In Spain exterior wood structures, became more and more popular since nineties, when sawn and glue-laminated wood were utilized for building exterior wood structures in overall Spain. In m...
D Lorenzo, A Lozano, M Alonso, J Fernández-Golfín, M Touza, J Benito


Analysis of wooden shingles after seven years of exposure
2022 - IRG/WP 22-20690
Wood is a traditional roofing material in the Alpine regions. In the 17th century, wooden roofing was typically used on more important buildings. Still, today it is predominately used on huts and houses in the hilly regions of northern and north-western Slovenia. Because wooden roofing is expensive, we investigated the possibility of extending the service life of the roofing through impregnation a...
M Humar, B Lesar, D Kržišnik, E Keržič, B Jemec


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