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Consistency of performance of acetylated wood
2017 - IRG/WP 17-20608
It is well known that acetylation of wood improves the resistance against wood decaying fungi and insects, as well as its dimensional stability under varying moisture conditions. Accsys Group continues to support a variety of laboratory and field studies around the world to assess and monitor the durability, dimensional stability and uniformity of its products. To gain and maintain market acceptan...
F Bongers, J van Zetten


Redwood Durability in NZ – Can pure culture laboratory tests predict outdoor service life
2017 - IRG/WP 17-20610
Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) is an alternative species in New Zealand to the large scale Pinus radiata plantations. Redwood is classified as moderately durable but its durability is extremely variable. In order to reduce this variability in future stock, understanding growth conditions, clone, and tree age effects are important however this involves many samples and is not suitable for ass...
D O’Callahan, C Chittenden, J van der Waals, D Meason, T Singh


Modelling of moisture content in timber bridge details
2017 - IRG/WP 17-20613
The design of details is an important aspect in durability design of timber bridges. Details are often considered the weakest points in bridges due to their tendency to trap and accumulate moisture and thus facilitate decay. When designing maintenance plans and inspection intervals, it is important to know how design choices will come to influence the service life. Moreover, service life and wood ...
J Niklewski, C Brischke, E Frühwald Hansson, L Meyer-Veltrup


Comparative Durability of Timber Bridges in the USA
2017 - IRG/WP 17-20615
As engineers begin to utilize life-cycle-cost design approaches for timber bridges, there is a necessity for more reliable data about their durability and expected service life. This paper summarizes a comprehensive effort to assess the current condition of more than one hundred timber highway bridge superstructures throughout the United States. This national study was jointly administered by the ...
J P Wacker, B K Brashaw


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


Moisture performance of wood determined in laboratory and field trials
2017 - IRG/WP 17-20621
It is widely accepted that wood moisture content (MC) is the key factor when it comes to durability of wooden structures exposed to weathering. The moisture performance of wood and wood-based products has been recognized as key element in wood durability and wood protection. Actually, it should be considered as major component of the material-intrinsic resistance of wood, but never found its way i...
D Kržišnik, N Thaler, B Lesar, M Humar


Service Life Forecasting and Planning – Why, and Concepts to do it
2017 - IRG/WP 17-20625
The importance of the building and construction sector in society cannot be overestimated. It is globally the major industry sector, a main contributor to gross domestic products, a dominant employer, and the main consumer of material resources and energy. The environmental impact of constructing, running and demolishing the built environment is huge. The products of construction are normally long...
C Sjöström


Field Performance of Refractory Species Treated with MCA
2017 - IRG/WP 17-30706
Micronized copper azole (MCA) has been used extensively over the past decade to preserve southern pine, and other wide sapwood species. Treatment of refractory species is less common, in part due to concerns about treatability and resulting efficacy. To address these concerns, white spruce and Pacific silver fir stakes, and lodgepole pine and red pine posts, were pressure-treated with multiple ret...
R Stirling, J K Ingram, P I Morris


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


Moisture behaviour and biological durability of high performance flax fibre reinforced composites
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40803
For natural fibre composites in structural and load bearing applications long reinforcing fibres are required. Therefore, much research is performed on flax fibre reinforced composites to optimize them for high performance use. In most cases such research focuses on the mechanical properties, yet the assessment of moisture behaviour, dimensional stability and biological durability is an important ...
N Defoirdt, J Van den Bulcke, F Bensadoun, J Ivens, I Verpoest, J Van Acker


Studying Weathering Performance of Coatings on Thermally Modified Wood
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40805
Thermal modification and degree of improved properties depends on wood species and treatment parameters. Southern pine and spruce are the two common wood species for decking, fences and siding in North America. This study was the first to evaluate coating performance when applied on oil-heat-treated southern pine and spruce wood samples. Water uptake, colour and gloss changes of samples were analy...
M Nejad, M Dadbin, P Cooper


Mechanical, Physical and Biological Properties of Sandwich Biocomposites Panels manufactured from Food Packaging Waste
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40791
Recently, recycling of Tetra Pak® packaging material has attracted many attention, particularly in composite industries. In this work, novel biocomposites sandwich structures were manufactured using TetraPak waste materials as core component and various kind of natural and artificial woven fabrics as skin elements. Mechanical, physical and biological performances of the developed composite panels...
A S O Mohareb, A H Hassanin, K Candelier, M F Thévenon, A Kilic, Z Candan


Colour changes in unpainted wooden façades – Fifty Shades of Grey
2018 - IRG/WP 18-10903
In Norway the use of weathered unpainted, wooden façades has increased in popularity the last 20 years, both in single family houses as well as in multi-story and non-residential buildings. The benefit of using unpainted wood as façade material can be several: low maintenance costs, low environmental impact and low carbon footprint as well as contemporary and trendy aesthetic appearance. The va...
K Zimmer, L R Gobakken, O Flindall, M Nygaard


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


The impact of coatings on the service life of wood decking
2018 - IRG/WP 18-20635
The durability of wood decks depends on the nature of the environment in which they are exposed to, the dimensions and configuration of the components, the resistance of the wood to degrading factors in that environment, and the maintenance performed on the deck. The present work seeks to better understand the performance of selected wood decking systems when maintained and unmaintained. This expe...
R Stirling, D Wong


Material Resistance and Chemical Composition of Italian Stone Pine (Pinus pinea)
2018 - RG/WP 18-20645
Relevant properties of stone pine (Pinus pinea) wood have been only fragmentarily addressed in the past, which has been recognized as a limiting factor for its potential applications. The amount of the respective wood species on the market will likely increase in the future. The sorption properties, permeability to water, extractives content and durability against fungi of Pinus pinea sapwood and ...
M Humar, M De Angelis, M Romagnoli, V Vek, I Poljanšek, P Oven, N Thaler, B Lesar, D Kržišnik


Performance of acetylated wood in aquatic applications
2018 - IRG/WP 18-40822
Acetylation of wood to enhance its resistance against wood decaying fungi and insects has been studied extensively under both laboratory and terrestrial field trials. Also several studies are investigating the performance of acetylated wood in marine and fresh water exposures. This paper updates nine year marine tests with acetylated radiata pine in Hejlsminde (Denmark) and presents data on 3 year...
F Bongers, S Palanti, A Gellerich, J J Morrell, J Creemers, J Hague


Long-term performance of DMDHEU-treated wood exposed in ground, above ground and in the marine environment
2018 - IRG/WP 18-40825
Chemical wood modification with N-methylol compounds such as 1.3-dimethylol-4.5-dihydroxyethyleneurea (DMDHEU) has been studied intensively since the 1990s. Research of the past years focused on treatment of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and European beech wood (Fagus sylvatica L.) and was shown to be applicable to improve specific material properties. A high resistance against wood-destroying ...
L Emmerich, H Militz, C Brischke


Performance of wood exterior structures above ground in Spain built with softwood species. The situation case of a shelter bridge
2018 - IRG/WP 18-40844
Across Europe is very common to find wood exterior structures build in sawn and glue-laminated wood. Most of these exterior wood structures use softwood wood species such as: fir, spruce, larch and pine. 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. This paper s...
D Lorenzo, M Touza, J Fernández-Golfín, A Lozano, J Benito


Developments within COST Action FP1303 related to the modification of wood
2018 - IRG/WP 18-40847
COST Action FP 1303 (Performance of bio-based building materials) was established in 2013 with the main aim to improve the knowledge on the performance of bio-based materials used as building products and the assessment of factors influencing these, with the aim of increasing their service life. This Action has helped in understanding the interlinked relationships between durability, product aesth...
D Jones


Long service life or cascading? The environmental impact of maintenance of wood-based materials for building envelope and their recycling options
2018 - IRG/WP 18-50336
A major restraint in choosing bio-based materials (i.e. wood-based) for external use, is the lack of confidence that architects, designers and customers have toward these materials. In particular, the limit state of bio-based materials, which defines the frequency of maintenance operations, might be reached earlier for wood than for other materials (i.e. concrete). On the other hand, resource and ...
M Petrillo, J Sandak, P Grossi, A Kutnar, A


Enhancing knowledge transfer in the wood protection sector
2018 - IRG/WP 18-50338
In order to meet the needs for the developing bio-based economy, maintaining and expanding the market potential for wood raw materials and wood products in indoor and outdoor construction uses remains a key activity for industries in the biotechnological and forestry sector respectively. A major restraint in this respect is the drastically deviating views and expectations on quality and performanc...
C Brischke, G Alfredsen, S Bollmus, M Humar, D Jones, L Meyer-Veltrup, L Nunes


Environmental protection and long term in-service sustainability of preserved wooden poles is secured by non-toxic barrier protection system – History and case studies in South Africa
2018 - IRG/WP 18-50340
Non-toxic flexible sheeting systems have been developed to encapsulate the ground contact regions of preserved wooden poles and prevent their premature failure in South Africa since 1992 but the technology also has a long history of resistance by individuals with vested interests in the built-in redundancies of such poles. The concept has, however, been simultaneously validated by many independent...
A A W Baecker


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


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