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Dimensional Stability of Melamine Formaldehyde-Treated Southern Pine
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40774
The objective of this preliminary study was to evaluate the influence of different levels of melamine formaldehyde (MF) and curing cycle on the dimensional properties of southern pine. Thirty samples for each combination of treatment and curing regimen plus untreated controls and controls subjected to the same curing regimen were tested. Shrinkage/swelling coefficients showed that up to 60% ASE c...
H M Barnes, L S Sites, T S F A França, M G Sanders, F J N França


Borate and Copper Naphthenate Dual Treatment of Bridge Timbers-Borate movement over time
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40795
Preservative treated wooden bridge ties in the South Eastern USA have a service life of about 15 to 20 years, which falls well below the average service life of 40 years of railroad cross ties (sleepers). It has been shown that cross tie life is significantly extended using borate dual treatment and this is now commercialized in bridge timbers using borate inserts. In previous research, it was dem...
J-W Kim, J D Lloyd


Dual Borate and Copper Naphthenate Treatment of Bridge Timbers:- Potential Performance Enhancements and Cost Savings
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40797
Dual treatment technology combining diffusible preservatives with oil borne preservatives, widely used for crossties in the USA, has now also been commercialized with bridge ties/timbers. In order to understand the implications of these changes, the historic service life of creosote treated bridge timbers in northern and southeastern USA were considered as well as field test data for both creosote...
J Lloyd, C Brischke, R Bennett, A Taylor


A summary of history and use of timber bridges in New Zealand
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40801
Wooden bridges have been an important part of road and rail networks in New Zealand. While wooden structures have largely been replaced by concrete and steel on major arteries they still have a place where lightweight, easily assembled structures are needed. These timber bridges may also be a cheaper alternative to other materials in roads which carry relatively low traffic loads. In the last ten ...
D Page, T Singh


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


Evaluation of coating applied in treated wood: experiences in Brazil
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40814
Weathering assays study the coating degradation caused by its exposure to the action of ultraviolet radiation, winds, heat and humidity. The use of test specimens in different arrangements and exposure angles is intended to reproduce various conditions in which a product can be used. The purpose of this paper is to present the efficacy of an oil-borne varnish applied on treated wood exposed to wea...
M F Natale, J M Vidal


Preliminary Investigation into the Natural Decay Resistance of Nigerian Grown Hevea brasiliensis and Mitragyna ciliata wood to Phanerochaete chrysosporium White-Rot Fungus
2018 - IRG/WP 18-10919
Wood is an important and versatile structural building material that finds applications in numerous uses. However, wood is also a biological material vulnerable to degradation by microbial activities; this is especially true in the tropics. Following the scarcity of highly durable species from our natural forests and the introduction of so many lesser used/durable wood species into the booming tim...
J M Owoyemi, U O Emmanuel


Impact of sapwood portions on the durability of adjacent heartwood of Pinus sylvestris, Pseudotsuga menziesii and Quercus robur. Part 1: Laboratory studies
2018 - IRG/WP 18-10922
Sapwood is generally considered as non-durable and assigned to durability class DC 5 according to European standards independent from the wood species. It is commonly agreed that sapwood decays faster than adjacent heartwood, but it is controversially discussed whether sapwood serves as feeder material and thus accelerates onset and progress of decay in more durable heartwood or decays independent...
C Brischke, P Homann, A Gellerich


Long-time efficacy of some soil termiticides tested according to “Modified Ground Board Test”
2018 - IRG/WP 18-10935
Field trials of efficacy of soil termiticides available in Thailand were started back in the 1980s at four different locations representing different unique weather types of the country. The method used in the trials (Modified Ground Board Test) is the compulsory test for every soil termiticides aiming to be registered for termite control in Thailand. The ongoing record reveals that some particula...
C Vongkaluang, K Charoenkrung, N Same Rain


Testing the durability of timber products above ground using the block-test method – A critical review
2018 - IRG/WP 18-20637
The block-test method for testing the durability of wood and wood products above ground is reviewed critically with respect to practical aspects, moisture loads, corresponding decay development, and the possibilities of assessing test specimens by determining the dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOEdyn) of wood. In total, 36 blocks representing different modifications of the original set-up and a wi...
C Brischke, A Gellerich, H Militz


Recent findings clarifying the mechanism of brown-rot decay protection in acetylated wood
2018 - IRG/WP 18-40827
This paper summarizes the findings obtained during my PhD research over the past three years. The results provide insights which help to understand the enhanced brown-rot decay resistance of acetylated wood with particular emphasis on the role of water. The protection acetylation provides is derived from moisture exclusion within the acetylated cell wall, but the exact mechanism by which water is ...
G Beck


Performance of untreated timbers in above ground decking tests: Preliminary results from an international collaborative trial
2019 - IRG/WP 19-10940
The ability to accurately predict wood decay risks under varying environmental conditions has long been of interest to timber users. Accurate predictions are difficult owing to the myriad of variables associated with the decay process including wood species, wood inhabiting organisms, timber building element design and environmental conditions. Despite these difficulties, decay predictions have be...
L P Francis, J Norton, E Melcher, A H H Wong, J Kok Lai, M Klamer, M J Konkler, J J. Morrell


Impact of water holding capacity and moisture content of soil substrates on the moisture content of wood in terrestrial microcosms
2019 - IRG/WP 19-20662
Terrestrial microcosms (TMC) are frequently used for testing the durability of wood and wood-based materials as well as the protective effectiveness of wood preservatives. In contrary to experiments in soil ecology sciences, the experimental set-up is usually rather simple. However, for service life prediction of wood exposed in ground, it is of immanent interest to better understand the different...
C Brischke, F L Wegener


Development of accelerated decay test for CLT using a fungus grown on agar medium
2019 - IRG/WP 19-20664
CLT is a large-scale wooden board which consists of several layers of sawn lumber stacked in altering directions. Therefore, a lot of large cross sections appear on all narrow faces of CLT. As water penetrates easily into timber from cross section, wooden material whose cross section is exposed to water in in a usage environment is susceptible to deterioration by organisms. Wood deterioration orga...
T Miyauchi, K Kambara, W Ohmura, T Mori, H Matsunaga, N Hattori


COPPER NAPHTHENATE: A Product for All Seasons: Protecting the Americas’ Infrastructure for Over 100 Years and Potential for Expanded Usage in Europe
2019 - IRG/WP 19-30738
This paper is a brief review of the history and use of the wood preservative Copper Naphthenate, with a focus on use patterns within the USA and opportunities for expansion in Europe and Canada. This paper reviews how copper naphthenate has performed to preserve and protect cellulosic and wooden items essential to critical infrastructure, and why it is the ideal choice for use in the replacement o...
M H Freeman, J A Brient, M Manning


Relative efficacy of various oxine copper formulations against brown-rot fungi
2019 - IRG/WP 19-30741
This paper investigates the relative resistance of three different oxine copper formulations (oil-borne, water-borne, water-borne with pH-adjustment) as a preservative treatment for wood against brown-rot fungi. Impregnated southern pine sapwood cubes were exposed to R. placenta and G. trabeum cultures in a soil-block test. After eight weeks, the weight losses of the cubes were examined in relatio...
M Petruch, J Lloyd, A Taylor


Effect ofNano-Copper Oxide on Decay Resistance of Pistachio Twig-Plastic Composite
2019 - IRG/WP 19-30750
The goal of our study was to investigate the decay resistance of pistachio twig-plastic composite treated with nano-copper oxide against the white rot fungus Trametes versicoloer and the brown rot fungus Coniophora puteana. For this purpose, wood–polypropylene composites (WPCs) containing different loadings of nano-copper oxide, namely 0, 1, 2 and 3 percent (W/W), were made from pistachio (Pista...
M R M Farahani,S Pourabdollah


Economic and Alternative Preservative Research with an Overview of its Impact on the Dynamics of Wood Tie Markets and Railroads
2019 - IRG/WP 19-30751
This presentation will discuss the Railway Tie Association’s (RTA) efforts in economic research for the North American wood tie industry, along with decades-long research into improving wood preservation processes and its resulting economic impact for railroads. Ongoing research is continuing to expand the knowledge-base by comparing existing standard creosote (C) and borate-creosote (B-C) dual...
J C Gauntt


Knowledge exchange and transfer from academia to industry in the field of wood protection research – Activities of the IRG-WP Communications Committee
2019 - IRG/WP 19-50354
The International Research Group on Wood Protection (IRG) was founded in 1969 as a structured group of like-minded scientists and technologists focused on generating knowledge of the science of wood deterioration, and novel solutions to provide sustainably and environmentally responsible products for the protection of wood-based materials. The primary function of the IRG is to provide opportunitie...
F Latorre, B Abbott, C Brischke, M Humar, D Jones, E Larnoy, L Nunes, A Preston, T Singh


Different levels of acetylation lead to groupwise upregulation of non-enzymatic wood degradation genes of Rhodonia placenta during initial brown-rot decay
2020 - IRG/WP 20-10958
Rhodonia placenta, often used as a model fungus to represent brown rot fungi, uses a two-stepped degradation mechanism to degrade wood. Regarding the overcoming of wood protection systems the initial degradation phase seems to be the crucial point. A new laboratory test enables the separation of the non-enzymatic oxidative and the enzymatic degradation phases, which has previously been proven chal...
M Kölle, R Ringman, A Pilgård


Performance of naturally durable decks after 15 years of field exposure
2020 - IRG/WP 20-10963
A decking test of Canadian species considered to be naturally durable was inspected after 15 years of exposure at test sites in Ontario and British Columbia. Based on the materials used in this experiment, Douglas-fir and yellow cypress had the greatest decay resistance, followed by eastern white cedar and western redcedar, and then by western larch and tamarack. All materials tested were more dur...
R Stirling, D Wong


Profiling fungal degradation of Scots pine sapwood by short wave infrared hyperspectral image analysis
2020 - IRG/WP 20-20667
Hyperspectral image analysis of Scots pine sapwood wood affected by decay fungi has been carried out as part of a Ph.D. thesis within the project Remote Inspection of Wooden Utility Poles (RIWUP). In a lab experiment, Petri-dishes with Scots pine sapwood samples on malt agar medium were infected with two types of decay fungi, a brown rot and a white rot. The wood samples were scanned with a HySpe...
A Jochemsen, G Alfredsen, I Burud


Long-term field exposure of wood-plastic composites processed on a commercial-size extruder
2020 - IRG/WP 20-40894
Wood-plastic composites (WPC) contain wood fiber (or flour), thermoplastics and additives and are exposed to UV light, moisture, and biological deterioration in outdoor installations. Accelerated laboratory tests can help to predict the durability of WPCs, but long term evaluations are needed to validate these results. Field exposed above-ground WPC deck boards (30.5 x 139.7 x 609.6 mm) and in-gro...
R E Ibach, C M Clemmons, N M Stark


Impact of fungal decay on the bending properties of wood
2020 - IRG/WP 20-20671
Wood used outdoors is generally prone to fungal degradation, and its impact on the structural integrity of wood is an immanent factor for service life planning with timber. Wood decayed to very small mass losses can suffer from a significant reduction in mechanical strength and elastic properties. Hence, the latter are preferred indicators to detect decay in wood durability studies. Numerous previ...
S Bollmus, P B van Niekerk, C Brischke


Future development of durability assessment of wood, according to typical usage of preservative-treated wood and naturally durable wood in Japan
2020 - IRG/WP 20-20675
A market of preserved wood products in Japan has two unique histories. First is the market shift to residential ground sills from utility poles and sleepers; the other is the stop of CCA treatment caused by the new effluent standard. In 2018, around 85% of preserved wood products used for residential ground sills were treated with non-CCA such as Cu-based agents. Since the market of treated wood h...
T Osawa, W Ohmura, H Kurisaki


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