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Supply of wooden transmission and telephone poles in Tanzania: Problems and possible solutions
1987 - IRG/WP 3424
The eucalypts which have been used widely for utility poles for more than 30 years have dwindled remarkably from traditional supply areas. Consequently, pole-using authorities are considering importing poles from abroad. This alternative is considered unrealistic and costly. The aims of this paper are: - to dispel fears of pole scarcity and to show that an abundant resource of a variety of tree sp...
K K Murira, S A Diwani


CCA removal from treated wood by chemical, mechanical and microbial processing
1998 - IRG/WP 98-50101-26
Most preservative-treated wood produced and consumed in the U.S. is treated with toxic inorganic compounds containing copper, chromium, and arsenic. Because chromated copper arsenate (CCA) is fixed to the wood, treated wood has not been considered toxic or hazardous and is currently landfilled. Increasing public concern about environmental contamination from treated wood combined with increasing q...
C A Clausen, R L Smith


A non-destructive testing technique for wood poles
1987 - IRG/WP 2293
A method has been developed to evaluate the stiffness and condition of a wood pole based on structural dynamics. This paper describes the results of tests performed on nearly 200 wood utility poles across Western Canada. A high correlation exists between the dynamic non-destructive test and direct mechanical tests. The need for an accurate non-destructive testing technique is demonstrated by the f...
W M Murphy, D E Franklin, R A Palylyk


Wood cement composites using spent CCA treated wood
1999 - IRG/WP 99-50126
The feasibility of using spent or out-of-service CCA treated wood as a component of wood/cement composites was evaluated. Cold pressed wood particle cement boards were made using CCA treated particles from a red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) pole removed from service and from untreated red pine wood from a new pole. Boards were manufactured using a range of wood to cement ratios and water to cement r...
Chen Huang, P A Cooper


Decay rates and strength and stiffness loss in foundation beams
1992 - IRG/WP 92-1563
The TNO Centre for Timber Research has executed an extensive research programme into the rate of decay in foundation beams, as a result of lowering of ground water tables. The aim of the research was to develop a method, predicting the decrease in strength and stiffness in beams, due to wood decay during drytime of foundation beams. With the calculated extremes in decay, the damage caused by local...
P Esser, H S Buitenkamp


The potential of high pressure pulsation processes to treat white spruce lumber with water-borne preservatives
1988 - IRG/WP 3471
Laboratory work using end sealed 4x8x46 cm³ white spruce samples has been done to explore the suitability of three variants of a 2.1 MPa pulsation process for the impregnation of white spruce with CCA. The results showed that the process improved significantly the penetration of the preservatives and reduced significantly cell collapse, when compared with the results of treatment using a 2.1 MPa ...
J P Hösli, J N R Ruddick


A comparison analysis of eight strains of Serpula lacrymans (Schum. ex Fr.) S.F. Gray
1991 - IRG/WP 2362
Investigations were previously carried out to compare eight strains of Serpula lacrymans (Schum. ex Fr.) S.F. Gray (some used in various countries as standard test strains): FPRL 12C (England), FPRL 12E (Germany), Warsaw III (Poland), HFP 7802 (Japan), DFP 16508, 16509, 16521 and 16522 (Australia). Studies included growth rate and dry mass of mycelium, decay capacity, reduction of compression stre...
J Wazny, J D Thornton


A questionnaire survey to establish the perceptions of UK specifiers concerning the key material attributes of timer for use in marine and fresh water engineering
2004 - IRG/WP 04-10519
Engineers have a key role in making informed decisions on the type of materials to be used in the schemes they design and construct. Currently, in England and Wales, it is believed that some £500m per year is invested in flood and coastal defence engineering. There is a lack of centralised data in the UK holding information on timber for usage in fluvial and, particularly coastal engineering. A...
J R Williams, G S Sawyer, S M Cragg, J Simm


Correlation between modulus of elasticity, mass losses and FTIR spectra of copper treated decayed wood
2006 - IRG/WP 06-10580
The composition of copper-based preservatives will change from copper-chromium to copper-ethanolamine, due to environmental demands. The most important drawback of copper-impregnated wood is the presence of tolerant fungal organisms that have developed an ability to degrade such preserved wood. In order to elucidate these processes, specimens (0.5×1.0×15 cm) made of Norway spruce (Picea abies) w...
M Humar, B Bucar, F Pohleven


High-energy multiple impact (HEMI)-test – Part 1: A new tool for quality control of thermally modified timber
2006 - IRG/WP 06-20346
Thermal modification processes improve durability and dimensional stability of wood, but the strength properties, especially the dynamic ones, are compromised and need to be considered with respect to industrial quality control. Results from standard dynamic strength testing, such as impact bending tests, suffer from high variability, and therefore require a high number of replicates. To overcome ...
C Brischke, A O Rapp, C R Welzbacher


Wood plastic composites from modified wood; Part 1 - Conceptual idea, mechanical and physical properties
2006 - IRG/WP 06-40338
Wood plastic composites, WPCs, are rapidly taking shares from preservative treated wood on the decking market. However, the long term performance of the WPC products in this application is uncertain. Therefore, in an attempt to increase the long term performance and durability, the substitution of the unmodified wood component with modified wood has been studied in the work presented in this paper...
P Larsson Brelid, B K Segerholm, M Westin, M E P Wålinder


Characteristics of treated oriented strand lumber using recycle chips
2006 - IRG/WP 06-40343
The Kyoto Protocol for preventing global warming has come into effect, and the Cabinet Council was decided on the amount of carbon dioxide exhaust to be reduced in Japan. Moreover, the recycling of demolition waste wood is mandated under the “Construction Material Recycling Law” as one of the mechanisms for Japan to form the recycling society. The law encourages the utilization of demolition w...
T Shibusawa, A Miyatake, K Yamamoto, K Hashimoto, H Sonobe


Effects of heat treatments on decay resistance and material properties of ponderosa pine and yellow poplar
2007 - IRG/WP 07-40374
The potential for using heat treatment to improve the properties of North American fenestration species was evaluated on ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa L) and yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L) treated using the ThermoWood process at various treatment temperatures and times. Soil block tests using Gloeophyllum trabeum, Postia placenta, or Trametes versicolor showed that durability was enh...
C Vidrine, C Freitag, J Nicholson, J J Morrell


Influence of ethanolamine on lignin depolymerization and copper leaching from treated Norway spruce and beech wood
2007 - IRG/WP 07-30423
Copper-ethanolamine based wood preservatives are replacing several classical copper-chromium based solutions, due to foreseen ban of chromium. Fixation of copper-ethanolamine based wood preservatives is not as good as fixation of copper-chromium ones. The main object of this manuscript was to prove, that ethanolamine is the prime reason for insufficient fixation of copper-ethanolamine formulations...
M Humar, B Bucar, M Zupancic, D Žlindra, F Pohleven


The effect of an ionic liquid of imidazolium tetrafluoroborates series on Scots pine wood properties
2007 - IRG/WP 07-40357
Ionic liquids (ILs) of imidazolium tetrafluoroborates series penetrate Scots pine wood very well and are active against wood destroying fungi. The requirement to use ILs as wood preservatives is determined by the liquid influence on the functional properties of wood. Investigations were undertaken to clarify the influence of an ionic liquid, 3-heptyloxymethyl-1-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ...
A Fojutowski, R Szukala, J Pernak


Effects of sodium hypochlorite on compression strength and copper retention of spruce wood treated with copper azole and alkaline copper quat
2007 - IRG/WP 07-40362
This work investigates the effects of sodium hypochlorite on compression strength values and copper retention ratios of refractory spruce wood (Picea oriental L.) treated with the waterborne preservative Copper Azole, (CBA-A, Tanalith-E 3492) and alkaline copper quat (ACQ-2200). Before the copper azole and alkaline copper quat treatment, the samples were immersed in 500 ml of sodium hypochlorite s...
S Yildiz, E Dizman, A Temiz, Ü C Yildiz


Multivariate analysis of infrared spectra for the prediction of the mechanical performance and dimensional stability of thermally modified wood
2007 - IRG/WP 07-40367
The use of calibrated mid-infrared Fourier transform (FTIR) spectroscopy for predicting the main bending strength parameters of thermally modified wood is described for the first time. The analysis is based on the handling of OSC-filtered FTIR data from control and treated wood samples, using partial least squares (PLS) regression. Sets of Norway spruce, Scots pine and Beech wood samples were th...
M M González-Peña, M D C Hale


Anatomical, physical and chemical changes of Bamboo (Phyllostachys puberscence ) during weathering processes
2008 - IRG/WP 08-10650
Bamboo (Phyllostachys puberscence) culms with 1, 2, 3 year old were exposed to natural weathering condition in Gwangju, Korea for 12 months. Changes in color, surface topography, strength and chemical properties were investigated using various microscopic and instrumental techniques. After one year’s weathering, the color of bamboo became lighter but strengths of bamboo did not change significan...
Jong Sik Kim, Kwang Ho Lee, Mi Young Cha, Yoon Soo Kim


Effect of CCA and Tanalith E on the performance of surface finishing
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40405
Effect of CCA and Tanalith E treatment on the performance of surface finishing properties was the objectives of this study. Sapwood of scots pine, (Pinus sylvestris L.) and oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsk.) specimens (300 x 100 x 15 mm along the grain) were impregnated with aqueous solution of CCA 2% and Tanalith E 2%. Surface roughness, dry film thickness, adhesion strength, gloss measur...
T Ozdemir, A Temiz, I Aydin


The effect of treatments in boron steaming medium on boron leaching and strength properties of wood
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40409
The combined effect of boric acid impregnation together with boron steaming and steaming heat treatments were evaluated in this study. Boric acid pre-treated wood samples and untreated ones subjected to steaming heat and direct steaming treatment in a close reactor at 13 bar pressure and 180 ºC for 30 minutes. Compression strength parallel to grain of wood samples, leaching test and pH measuremen...
E D Tomak, Ü C Yildiz, S Yildiz, E Pesman


Changes in hygroscopic, mechanical and surface properties of Scottish-grown Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) wood subjected to dry heat treatment
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40415
Heat-treatment is a wood modification method which has been used to some extent in improving timber quality. However, the main limitation in the use of this technique despite its numerous advantages is the adverse effects on the various properties associated with the use of wood as an engineering material. Dry heat treatment of Scottish-grown Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) wood was carried out at...
L Awoyemi, M C Jarvis, A Hapca


Effects of CCB on wood strength of Eastern spruce (Picea orientalis L.)
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40416
The effects of CCB (chromate copper boron) on the static bending properties of Eastern spruce (Picea orientalis L.) based on MOE (modulus of elasticity) and MOR (modulus of rupture) were evaluated after full-cell vacuum/pressure treatment using a 3.0 % concentration followed by kiln-drying at 15 and 30 % moisture contents with heating the preservative at 30 and 40 ºC. The results showed that MOE ...
I Usta, M Hale


The effects of zinc borate treatment of wood strands on some technological properties of oriented strandboard (OSB)
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40419
In this study, influences of zinc borate treatment on some technological properties of oriented strandboard (OSB), from aspen wood (Populus euroamericana cv.) were evaluated. Therefore, a total of nine panels with dimensions of 40 cm by 40 cm by 1.8 cm and with an average target density of 0.65 g/cm3 were manufactured under the laboratory conditions. Experimental panels were manufactured at two di...
A D Çavdar, H Kalaycioglu, G Nemli


Cantilever bending test of furfurylated poles
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40424
Ten, 8 m long poles of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) were treated with furfuryl alcohol to a WPG of approximately 40 %. A bending test was performed according to the principles in the draft European standard for wooden poles, prEN 14229 - Structural timber - Wood Poles for overhead lines. The bending strength and stiffness (MOE) for the poles tested were compared to an earlier study by the Swedish Wood Preservation Committee. In the latter study untreated, CCA-treated, ammoniacal Cu-PCP treated and creosoted poles were tested in bending. These types of poles were considered not to differ in strength and stiffness. The results of the furfurylated poles fit well with the results from the previous study. The bending strength and MOE values obtained are compared to the upper and lower 95-percentile values of the results from the previous study and all poles treated with furfuryl alcohol fit within this interval.Thus, this study indicates that a treatment with furfuryl alcohol does not result in a decrease of strength or stiffness. Further testing with a larger population of poles is necessary in order to get a statistically reliable result. In addition to further demonstration of the durability, the treatment process must be optimised to ensure full sapwood penetration and measures have to be taken to avoid the serious cracking observed in this trial before furfurylation can be considered for treatment of Pinus sylvestris poles.
R Ziethén, J Jermer, A Clang


Measurement of wood decay by dynamic MOE in an accelerated soil contact test
2008 - IRG/WP 08-20390
Current laboratory and field testing of preservatives involves various techniques to determine the extent of fungal attack, including visual inspection, mass loss, and static bending and compression strength measurements. The objective of this study was to compare decay measurement by conventional compression strength versus dynamic MOE, employing small wood stakes in an accelerated laboratory so...
Gan Li, D D Nicholas, T P Schultz


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