IRG Documents Database and Compendium


Search and Download IRG Documents:



Between and , sort by


Displaying your search results

Your search resulted in 388 documents. Displaying 25 entries per page.


Decay initiation in plywood, OSB and solid wood under marginal moisture conditions
2011 - IRG/WP 11-20469
Hygrothermal models are increasingly used as research tools by building scientists and and design tools by designers to simulate heat, air, vapour, and water movements within and through building envelope and even to predict the consequences in terms of mould/decay growth and metal corrosion. This work was designed to generate data on decay initiation under marginal moisture conditions to support...
Jieying Wang, P Morris


Eastern redcedar included sapwood: Resistance to mold and termites under laboratory conditions
2012 - IRG/WP 12-10765
The heartwood of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) frequently contains areas of light-colored wood. This “included sapwood” is considered to be a defect by some manufacturers. In this study, sapwood, included sapwood and heartwood samples from five eastern redcedar trees were exposed to mold fungi or to subterranean termites in a no-choice feeding test. Extractives content was also measu...
C Köse, A M Taylor


Long term durability of the heartwood of seven common softwood species in above ground conditions
2012 - IRG/WP 12-10771
The natural durability for wood in above ground use has been evaluated based on results after 11 years of exposure in a test site situated at the Danish Technological Institute in Taastrup, Denmark. Selected results for seven common softwood species exposed horizontally are reported. The test results cover samples with direct rain exposure (use class 3 of the European standard EN335-1:2006) and sa...
E Tang Engelund, M Klamer, T Mark Venås, B Lindegaard


Decay factors in termite in-ground monitoring stations
2012 - IRG/WP 12-10775
Subterranean termites are serious pests of wood in service in much of the world. One of the most common techniques for monitoring and controlling termites is the use of in-ground monitoring stations which comprise a wood or other cellulosic material monitor (cellulosic matrix) and/or a termiticide bait held in a open plastic holder so facilitates examination and the termite access. Wood and other ...
S Duarte, A M Taylor, Jae-Woo Kim, J D Lloyd, M Duarte, L Nunes


Influence of soil moisture, Sarawak soil types and decay types on decay susceptibility of rubberwood and kelempayan
2012 - IRG/WP 12-10780
Wood and soils are important natural resources of the land, the former widely used as structural supports in contact with the latter. Many low durability wood species exposed to soil contact has reportedly high incidence of decay failures in poorly treated and untreated materials depending on soil types, properties and soil microbial virulence. This paper probes the relationship of the main soil t...
A H.H. Wong, P K.F. Chong, J Sabang


Variation in two Postia placenta strains, MAD-698-R and FPRL 280 – mass loss, DNA content and gene
2012 - IRG/WP 12-10781
Brown-rot fungi such as Postia placenta are common inhabitants of forest ecosystems and brown rot fungi are also largely responsible for the destructive decay of wooden structures. The aim of this study was to compare two commonly used strains of Postia placenta – MAD-698-R and FPRL 280. Scots pine sapwood samples were exposed for two and eight weeks to both fungal strains. The following was inv...
N Thaler, G Alfredsen, C G Fossdal


Plywood under the scanner: linking moisture dynamics and 3D structure
2012 - IRG/WP 12-20491
Plywood is highly esteemed as a construction material. Yet, the influence of moisture on both strength and durability are important factors. Especially the dynamics of moisture desorption and absorption should be taken into account when assessing the quality of a panel, which is a fact for all panel materials. This paper therefore focuses on the monitoring of the moisture dynamics of plywood subje...
J Van den Bulcke, I De Windt, N Defoirdt, J Van Acker


Biological performance of wood- and bamboo-polypropylene composites: Effects of particle content, particle size and Zn borate
2012 - IRG/WP 12-40577
Particle content and size of wood material in wood plastic composites (WPCs) can affect efficacy of WPCs against fungi and termites. This study evaluated fungal and termite resistance of WPCs manufactured by using two different levels of particle content (50 and 70%) and three different particle sizes (30, 60, and 100 mesh). In fungal resistance tests, Tyromyces palustris, a standardized test fung...
S N Kartal, S Aysal, E Terzi, T Yoshimura, K Tsunoda


Surface moulds and staining fungi on acetylated wood – effect of increasing acetyl content
2013 - IRG/WP 13-10797
Wood used in outside applications is susceptible to weathering and photo degradation, which often leads to surface discoloration, loss of brightness and surface deterioration. Research has shown that acetylated wood is more resistant against brown rot, white rot and soft rot, and more dimensionally stable than untreated wood. However, acetylated wood seems still to be disfigured by surface moulds ...
L Ross Gobakken, S Bardage, C J Long II


The assessment by visual grading, change of color and ergosterol content ratings, the resistance to mould fungi of treated with wood preservative Scots pine sapwood
2013 - IRG/WP 13-20514
The filamentous (mould) fungi belonging to Ascomycetes, Deuteromycetes group are an cosmopolitan organisms which attacks wooden elements disfiguring them, dropping their value and causing environmental and health hazard. The fungi in a short time cause mainly disfigurement of wood does not effect on strength properties of wood, but with strong prolongation of duration of conditions favourable for ...
A Fojutowski, A Koziróg, A Kropacz


Predicting the Rate of Decay, and the Potential for Misinterpretation of Proper Scientific Method
2013 - IRG/WP 13-20525
Predicting the rate of fungal attack in wood-based materials and its effect on properties remains the holy grail of wood products pathologists; however, achieving this goal is difficult because of the many variables associated with the process. This paper reviews some of the more important aspects of the decay process in relation to test methodology and then discusses how data are sometimes used b...
B S Goodell, J J Morrell


Method for determining the critical moisture level for mould growth on building materials
2013 - IRG/WP 13-20530
The natural conditions of relative humidity (RH) and temperature (T) in different parts of a building is rarely constant over time. Instead, RH and T often vary cyclically and may pose a risk of mould growth as these conditions are the two key environmental parameters that controls mould growth. Consideration to both humidity and temperature conditions and the susceptibility to mould in a material...
A Ekstrand-Tobin, P Johansson, G Bok


System treatments of Pinus sylvestris - influence on moisture, decay and discoloration
2013 - IRG/WP 13-30612
Biological activity can cause challenges for the use of wood in outdoor exposure. Decay and discolouring fungi influence the service life of wooden constructions, and the moisture content of the wood is often an important factor. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of different combinations of preservative/modified wood protection treatments and surface treatments for wooden deck...
A Schabacker, G Alfredsen, L Ross Gobakken, H Militz, P O Flæte


Hygroscopicity of wood after polyethylene glycol (PEG) impregnation and/or heat treatment
2013 - IRG/WP 13-40623
The hygroscopicity of wood after polyethylene glycol (PEG) impregnation and/or heat treatment was investigated by testing the water uptake, equilibrium moisture content (EMC) at various relative humidity levels, and contact angle of the poplar wood surface. The results showed that: (1) At the first moment, the heat treatment at temperatures lower than 160 ℃ did not reduce the water uptake be...
Weiyue Xu Yuan Zhu, Jinzhen Cao


Resistance of WPC against wood destroying fungi
2013 - IRG/WP 13-40627
The investigation of biological durability is a fundamental topic to assess the performance of Wood Plastic Composites (WPC) particularly for outdoor applications. In the last years, different test setups based on existing standards on the field of wood as well as the field of plastics were used for WPC. But the test methodologies give different information about the durability of the tested mater...
A Gellerich, S Bollmus, A Krause


Comparison of moisture loss and its increment during the rehearsal process based on natural drying and water soaking application with or without sealing the trial discs of Common black poplar (Populus nigra L.)
2013 - IRG/WP 13-40639
This study was subjected to be set up to prove the pattern of moisture loss and moisture increment within the same wood samples prepared as the discs (30x23±3 cm diameter) with or without the bark intact during drying and in the duration of the water soaking application. In this concept, wood was exemplified by Common black poplar (Populus nigra L.) of the five 12 year old trees that are grown in...
I Usta


Moisture and Fungal Durability of Wood-Plastic Composites Made With Chemically Modified and Treated Wood Flour
2013 - IRG/WP 13-40648
Evaluating the fungal durability of wood-plastic composites (WPCs) is complicated by the influence of slow moisture sorption. Recently, the American Wood Protection Association (AWPA) Standard Method E10, Testing Wood Preservatives by Laboratory Soil-Block Cultures, was modified to incorporate not only solid wood, but also wood-based composites and WPCs. To simulate long term WPC performance, cond...
B K Segerholm, R E Ibach


Quantification of copper and chromium in field stakes after different exposure times: Remaining metal content and distribution
2013 - IRG/WP 13-50291
In order to determine the distribution of copper and chromium as well as their remaining concentration EN 252 specimens and thicker pine sapwood stakes (non standard format) were treated with a commercial CC salt in a vacuum pressure process. The stakes were installed in the test field of the Institute of Wood Research, Hamburg, in August 2010. In all cases three stakes were removed after 4, 8, 12...
T Liese, M Bahmani, E Melcher


Critical moisture levels and mould resistance of five different wood treatments
2013 - IRG/WP 13-30632
Mould resistance of five different treatments were tested using two methods, a recently developed method for the determination of critical moisture levels of building materials (RHcrit), and ASTM D3273-94. The critical moisture level method exposed samples at 22 °C and 98, 92, 86 and 82% relative humidity (RH) for 12 weeks. ASTM D3273-94 was performed at 29 °C and about 95% RH. Treatments c...
G Bok, P Johansson, A Ekstrand Tobin, S Bardage


Performance standards for wood in construction – delivering customer service life requirements
2013 - IRG/WP 13-20537
There is increasing need for consideration of performance classification for wood products in construction, as evidenced by the CPR, warranty providers and end user demands for information. This means we need to radically consider how the tests we conduct on wood for durability (especially biological durability) can inform on service life and how they might if possible be translated into a perform...
E Suttie, C Brischke, F Englund, E Heisel, J Jermer, D Lorenzo, M Polášek, S Thelandersson, J Van Acker


Moisture dynamics of wood – An approach to implement wetting ability of wood into a resistance classification concept
2014 - IRG/WP 14-20557
Within the research programmes WoodBuild and PerformWOOD, wetting ability tests have been conducted with 25 wood-based materials. A first attempt has been made to establish factors for calculating the material resistance of wood materials to be implemented into a design guideline for timber structures. The approach looks promising, but further studies are needed to establish more reliable relation...
C Brischke, C Hesse, L Meyer, S Bardage, J Jermer, T Isaksson


Assessment of Scots pine sapwood susceptibility to moulds by determination of fungi growth and ergosterol content in infested wood
2014 - IRG/WP 14-20540
The susceptibility of wood to filamentous fungi (mould) attack is determine mainly by laboratory methods with descriptive grading of fungal growth on the surface of the wood specimens. It is a lot of different grading scale of fungi growth, but determination of the size of fungi growth is many times not easy, not clear and often difficult. Although the filamentous fungi are not included to microor...
A Fojutowski, A Koziróg, A Kropacz


Performance classification of wood in construction – drafting a user friendly European standard
2014 - IRG/WP 14-20545
The performance classification for wood products in construction is an extremely important topic in Europe and beyond – warranty providers and end users demand service life and performance information in the face of competition with other materials. The European project PerformWOOD has formalised and drawn together the on-going research to focus on generation of a material resistance factor for ...
E Suttie, C Brischke, L Meyer, J Van Acker, M Kutnik, E Heisel, F Englund, J Jermer, S Thelandersson, M Polášek, D Lorenzo


Moisture performance testing of wood – Practical experiences
2014 - IRG/WP 14-20546
Different methods are used to characterize the moisture performance of wood and to quantify the effect of moisture loads on the resulting service life. These methods can be divided into direct and indirect methods. Furthermore they can be distinguished by characteristics like continuous or periodical measurements and measuring local or global moisture content (MC). Furthermore each measuring metho...
L Meyer, C Brischke, M Kasselmann, C Rösmann


Moisture dynamics of wood and wood-based products – Results from an inter-laboratory test
2014 - IRG/WP 14-20539
In the frame of the European research project PerformWOOD in close liaison with the CEN task group TG EN 350 of CEN TC 38 WG 21 in total six research institutes teamed up and initiated an inter-lab trial (Round Robin) to investigate the suitability of different test methods to determine the wetting ability of wood. The moisture performance of wood and wood-based products has been recognized as key...
C Brischke, L Meyer, C Hesse, J Van Acker, I De Windt, J Van den Bulcke, E Conti, M Humar, H Viitanen, M Kutnik, L Malassenet


Previous Page | Next Page