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Performance of bio-based building materials – durability and moisture dynamics
2020 - IRG/WP 20-20666
When exposed to conditions favourable for decay, bio-based building materials can be susceptible to degradation. Their ability to withstand deterioration over time (performance) depends on the intrinsic or enhanced durability of the material as well as its wetting and drying behaviour. The effect of fungicidal components in wood is known since long. Other material characteristics, such as the mate...
L De Ligne, J Caes, S Omar, J Van den Bulcke, J M Baetens, B De Baets, J Van Acker


Evaluation of decay and energy properties from thermally modified biomasses during fungal deterioration by NIR-spectrometry
2021 - IRG/WP 21-40922
This study is focused on the prediction of fungal weight loss (WL) and high heating value (HHV) from raw and torrefied waste lignocellulosic feedstocks, according to their exposure duration to wood-destroying fungi, using near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and chemometrics models. Sugarcane bagasse, coffee husk, eucalyptus and pine shavings were torrefied at 290 °C in a screw reactor, during 5, 7...
B de Freitas Homem de Faria, P Santana Barbosa, J Valente Roque, A de Cassia Oliveira Carneiro, P Rousset, K Candelier, R F Teofilo


Combining MRI and X-ray CT to monitor fungal decay of plywood and OSB in a lab test
2022 - IRG/WP 22-20683
Bio-based building materials, such as wood and wood-engineered products, are susceptible to degradation by decay fungi. In-depth knowledge on the intricate material-fungus relationship as well as performance data for many bio-based building materials are still lacking, and especially knowledge on how a material’s structure and moisture properties affect the degradation process is missing. Althou...
L De Ligne, T Núñez Guitar, C Vanhove, J Van Acker, J Van den Bulcke


Moisture sorption behaviour of poplar and thermally modified poplar using dynamic vapour sorption (DVS)
2022 - IRG/WP 22-40947
The moisture sorption behaviour of wood has a critical impact on service life. In Europe, softwood is mostly used to manufacture engineered wood products such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) or glue-laminated timber (GLT or glulam). Yet fast-growing and widespread tree species such as hybrid poplar with or without modification, have potential to meet the increasing demand. This study shows the moi...
X Jiang, J Van den Bulcke, L De Boever, M Minsart, A Mignon, J Van Acker


Effect of enzymatic inhibitors on the population of Reticulitermes grassei and their associated microbiota
2023 - IRG/WP 23-11008
Termites are pests that invade urban, agricultural and forest environments worldwide. They are economically important owing to the damage they cause to wood, wood products, building materials, agricultural products and forests. There are many methods for its control, but many of them cause negative environmental effects due to their toxicity. In termites, dietary change or antibiotic treatment may...
S M Santos, M T Troya, F Llinares, P Colina, E García, M Álvarez, L Robertson


Modification of wood by fast pyrolysis bio-oil – the NewWave project concept for bio-based wood treatment
2023 - IRG/WP 23-40990
The NewWave project aims to contribute to building a circular economy by introducing sustainable raw materials in different manufacturing lines, replacing toxic chemicals and lowering the environmental footprint of the products. The raw materials are obtained from the thermochemical fractionation of biomass. This process converts biomass residues by fast pyrolysis into Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil (FPBO...
A Sandak, J Sandak, F Poohphajai, R Herrera Diaz, A Gubenšek, K Butina Ogorelec, L Kiezebrink, K J Swager, H Heeres, B van de Beld


What products are architects using? Relationships between deterioration part and structural performance in wooden houses
2023 - IRG/WP 23-50374
Architects work in the development of ideas around buildings and all the nuclei where human activity is generated. It is a work of organization of matter, in time and space, where the conceptual world of ideas and the aspirations of inventions, the interior world interact with the exterior in many kinds of realities. But as architects, we have always been interested in why and how things have bee...
I de las Casas


Enhanced durability of bio-based materials for green building
2023 - IRG/WP 23-50382
Wood protection technologies provide tools to enhance the durability of bio-based materials for green building. Both wood and related bio-based material are regarded as eminent for green building. It allows to underpin several of the United Nations sustainable development goals and is regarded critical for the Green Deal objectives of the EU. Nevertheless, to enhance the potential it needs to be b...
J Van Acker, L De Ligne, J Vand den Bulcke


Investigating moisture dynamics and fungal decay risk: integrating X-ray CT visualization and simulation benchmarks through a Fungal Control Unit
2024 - IRG/WP 24-11045
Wood is susceptible to fungal attack and over time the structural integrity can be compromised. This risk is of course strongly related to moisture dynamics, as moisture is needed for fungal growth. While existing methodologies, such as lab and field tests, provide valuable insights into wood decay, they often fall short in replicating real-life conditions, particularly within the intricacies of t...
J Van den Bulcke, J Van Acker, M Delbeke, A Blommaert, N Van Den Bossche, M Steeman, L De Ligne


Studies on the treatability of selected pine species and corresponding efficacies of a new non-biocidal treatment
2024 - IRG/WP 24-20721
Wood decay caused by fungi may reduce the service life of wood in outdoor applications. Since moisture conditions in wood occur as one of the most crucial parameters for fungal decay, chemical modifications, which affect the latter, may increase the resistance of wood against such organisms. Usually, pine sapwood is easier to chemically treat than heartwood, as the former generally shows good perm...
T R da Silva Lins, L Emmerich, H Militz, P H Gonzales de Cademartoni, R J Klizke, M Pereira da Rocha


Phytosanitary heat treatment of wood in a laboratory drying oven and, in a pilot-scale kiln using the house longhorn beetle (Hylotrupes bajulus) larvae as a model
2024 - IRG/WP 24-20722
International trade in wood products brings the risk of the movement of tree pests which can cause devasting ecosystem and economic damage. International phytosanitary guidelines were created to help countries that import wood products. Import requirements intend to minimize pest spreading. Thus, the ISPM 15 (International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15) which specifies the “Regulat...
B Rubio, C L’Hostis, M Montibus, I Paulmier, C Brunet, L Charron, J-P Gaussorgues, C Guiberteau, V Vlahakis, F-R de Cibon, I Le Bayon


Service life of poplar, a low durability hardwood
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41007
Hybrid poplar is the most common plantation hardwood of the temperate climate zone and is complementary to natural stands of aspen with mainly plantations in Europe and China. Poplar wood has been considered as a valid alternative for many of the construction applications of softwoods especially when considering engineered wood products. The natural durability of hybrid poplar is low and for a ra...
J Van Acker, X Jiang, L De Ligne, J van den Bulcke


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