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In-ground variability of decay intensity within a test field
2012 - IRG/WP 12-20496
Timber exposed in the ground faces most severe conditions in terms of exposure to wetting and fungal decay in the terrestrial environment, therefore wood durability tests are often conducted in test fields preferably ensuring the occurrence of all relevant decay organisms. One can also expect differences in decay within an individual field-test site due to localized distribution of certain organis...
C Brischke, S Olberding, L Meyer, T Bornemann, C R Welzbacher


Effect of growth rate and radial position on the natural durability of Douglas-fir
2012 - IRG/WP 12-10791
In terms of natural durability, Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) fame owns to the favourable characteristics of centuries-old trees harvested in old-growth North American forests. The properties of wood coming from plantations harvested between 50 and 100 years-old are likely to be different. In such stands, plantation density and thinning intensity may have a large impact on the...
C Pollet, J-M Henin, B Jourez, J Hébert


Effect of preservative treatment on mechanical performance of round and square poles made of small diameter Scots pine
2012 - IRG/WP 12-40612
A growing proportion of harvested Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) timber originates from the first or second commercial thinning stands. There is a need to find economically viable and high quality wood products that can be manufactured from this raw material. Small log volume means not only demands of increased efficiency for material handling in logistics and manufacturing processes, but also c...
V Möttönen, R Stöd, K Heikkilä, H Heräjärvi


Water absorption and desorption of non treated, pressure impregnated, and pine oil treated glulam made of small diameter Scots pine and Norway spruce
2012 - IRG/WP 12-40616
A growing proportion of harvested timber originates from the first or second commercial thinning stands in Finland, which means smaller average log volumes in comparison to final felling stands. Smaller log volume means challenging wood properties such as higher proportion of juvenile wood and sapwood. Due to these facts, products made of small diameter logs are prone to twist and check, and have ...
H Heräjärvi, V Möttönen, R Stöd


Statistical analysis of durability tests - Part 2: Principles of time-to-failure and application on field test data
2013 - IRG/WP 13-20512
Service life prediction is an important topic in wood research, especially with regard to the Construction Products Regulation (CPR). Both laboratory tests as well as in-service performance testing is therefore essential, in combination with proper monitoring and analysis tools. A crucial concept is variability and the incorporation of variability in tests and analysis. In this paper we focus on t...
J Van den Bulcke, I De Windt, C Brischke, C R Welzbacher, A O Rapp, J Van Acker


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


The activity of a wood-decaying fungus during drying and rewetting cycles measured by isothermal calorimetry
2013 - IRG/WP 13-20526
Wood decaying fungi are an essential part of any ecosystems as they are the main decomposers of cellulose and lignin-containing materials. But as wood is a common building material the risk for decay fungi growth and subsequent degradation of our construction material is a concern. There are important physiological aspects of the growth and activity of decay fungi that are unknown today, and witho...
S Johansson, L Wadsö, A Pilgård, G Alfredsen


Development of a rapid method to assess the rate of fungal colonization of wood
2013 - IRG/WP 13-20531
Testing of wood durability is today done mainly with accelerated exposure tests under rather realistic conditions (in ground, outdoors with moisture traps etc). Although such tests are accelerated with respect to the conditions that outdoor exposed wood structures are exposed to, they tend to take rather long time. The present paper presents the development of a rapid method intended to assess at ...
L Wadsö


Effect of silver nanoparticles on the rate of heat transfer to the core of the medium-density fiberboard mat
2014 - IRG/WP 14-40653
Effect of silver nanoparticles on the rate of heat transferred to the core section of medium-density fiberboard (MDF) mat was studied here. A 400 ppm aqueous nanosilver suspension was used at three consumption levels of 100, 150, and 200 mL/kg based on the weight of dry wood fibers; the results were then compared with the control MDF panels. The size range of silver nanoparticles was 30-80 nm. Res...
H Reza Taghiyari, O Schmidt, E Bari, P M Tahir, A Karimi, P Nouri, A Jahangiri


Experiences with an industrial system for controlled thermal wood modification in pressurized unsaturated steam
2014 - IRG/WP 14-40678
Thermal wood modification in pressurized reactors has a long history, but these processes are to date industrially scarcely used, because of the relatively complicated process equipment, compared to the more common high-temperature processes in kilns at atmospheric pressure. However, based on our practical experience with the FirmoLin® process, supported by recent scientific findings, it is foun...
W Willems


The effect of preservative treatment on mechanical strength and structural integrity of wood
2015 - IRG/WP 15-30667
The use of wood for demanding construction applications is increasing in Europe. Wooden constructions are frequently designed of susceptible conifer wood, which is endangered by wood decay fungi in wet applications. Therefore in many cases treating wood with preservatives is unavoidable to ensure the desired service life. However, chemical treatment of wood can result in changes of its mechanical ...
M Humar, D Kržišnik, C Brischke


Transfer of microorganisms from wooden crates to foodstuffs: assessment of a transfer threshold
2016 - IRG/WP 16-20574
Wood is commonly used in contact with foodstuffs, for example for packaging fruits or vegetables. Most common species used are beech, pine, spruce and poplar. Wood is often considered as being less safe than plastic because it is less easy to clean whereas several studies have demonstrated that microorganisms cannot survive easily on wood (Milling et al., 2005; Revol-Junelles et al., 2005). Nation...
M Montibus, R Ismail, I Le Bayon, A Jasick, M Gabille, F Aviat, V Michel, M Federighi, M Kutnik


Release of Copper from Pressure Treated Wood
2016 - IRG/WP 16-20584
Micronized copper based wood preservatives including micronized copper quat (MCQ) and micronized copper azole (MCA) have been introduced commercially to the North American market since 2006 as alternatives to alkaline copper quat (ACQ) or soluble copper azole (CA) preservatives. Unlike ACQ or CA, MCQ and MCA use dispersed particulate copper particles rather than soluble ionic copper to make treat...
Jun Zhang, J Horton


Resistance of heat treated Ash wood under steam pressure: rot fungi, soil micro-organisms and termites
2016 - IRG/WP 16-40724
Thermal modification processes have been developed to increase the biological durability and dimensional stability of wood. The aim of this paper was to study the influence of ThermoWood® treatment intensity on wood decay resistance improvement against soil-inhabiting micro-organisms, brown/white rots and termite’s exposures. All of the tests were carried out in the laboratory with two differen...
K Candelier, S Hannouz, M-F Thévenon, D Guibal, P Gérardin, M Pétrissans, R Collet


Combustion and thermal characteristics of Korean wood species
2016 - IRG/WP 16-40727
This study examined the combustion and thermal characteristics of domestic woods in Korea. Wood was confirmed by a cone calorimeter according to the KS F ISO 5660-1 standard. The combustion properties of the wood were measured in terms of the heat release rate (HRR), total heat released (THR), mass lose rate (MLR), and ignition time (time to ignition; TTI). Also, the thermal properties were measur...
Huyun Jeong Seo, Jung-eun Park, Dong Won Son, Won-Joung Hwang


Impregnation of railway sleepers - Pressure gradient and transversal penetration
2016 - IRG/WP 16-40731
Based on the possible ban of creosote in the future, the need for oil based alternative products has gained in importance. Due to possible differences in impregnation properties compared to creosote the need for re-implementing former technology is given, to determine if momentarily used impregnation processes have to be modified. The here reported tests measure the pressure gradient during the im...
M Starck, A Gellerich, H Militz


Influence of pressure phase impregnation time on the uptake and distribution of wood preservatives in Scots pine material of diverse treatability
2016 - IRG/WP 16-40752
In spite of the general opinion that Scots pine sapwood is easy to impregnate considerable variations in treatability are reported. In order to study impregnation results of diverse Scots pine sapwood treated with increasing process times, Scots pine sapwood from two different predefined treatability groups was impregnated. A copper solution was used as impregnation agent in ten different vacuum p...
K Zimmer, B Kerfriden


Treatability of beechwood railway sleepers with potential creosote substitutes
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40790
Maintenance of an efficient railway infrastructure still requires the use of wooden railway sleepers, particularly because wooden sleepers have more favourable properties for intensified vibrations than concrete or steel sleepers. Creosote, used for decades for the impregnation of railway sleepers, will possibly no longer be available for this application due to European legislation. This reveals ...
N Pfabigan, E Habla, R Gründlinger


The development of a suitable fire retardant for Radiata pine and other species
2019 - IRG/WP 19-30744
The use of fire retardant chemicals, with the overarching aim of creating a safer environment is not a new one, however it is generally under-developed and is often afflicted with an image of environmental and health issues and misperceived high costs. There is an ever-increasing need and desire for effective fire retardancy in timbers to inhibit or suppress the combustion process. This is paramou...
B R Derham, M R Fortune


Promoting Commercially Available Epoxy Resins for Non-biocidal Wood Preservation
2019 - IRG/WP 19-40877
Commercially available epoxy and polyamine resins were evaluated with the aim of developing new non-biocidal wood preservation treatments. A simple method allowing the impregnation of wood by vacuum double impregnation followed by a curing process was developed for two reference species, beech Fagus sylvatica and Scots pine Pinus sylvestris. The tested products were evaluated for their ability to ...
P Poveda, M Mubarok, S Dumarcay, M Montibus, I Le Bayon, M Kutnik, P Gerardin, F Simon


Alternative products enhancing dimensional stability comparing to conventional treated products in Japan
2019 - IRG/WP 19-40885
The Act on the Promotion of the Utilization of Wood in Public Buildings (2010) in Japan has made a new stream of the utilization field of timber from housing constructions to larger scale non-housing constructions. After the act, the performance of dimensional stability in preservative treated products becomes more important factor than before. Therefore, various technologies have been developed, ...
K Yamamoto, D Tezuka, Y Sugai, S Maeda, I Momohara


Studying amount, location and state of water in modified wood at moisture levels relevant for fungal degradation
2020 - IRG/WP 20-40889
Water is an essential parameter for fungal degradation of wood, but degradation primarily occurs at high moisture levels at water potential in the range of -4 to -0.1 MPa, which corresponds to 97-99.9% relative humidity. At these moisture levels, water is present in the wood structure both in and outside of cell walls. The majority of previous studies on the interaction between wood and water for ...
M Fredriksson, E Engelund Thybring, Ramunas Digaitis


Validating a short-term laboratory method to assess the resistance of timber to biodegradation by marine wood-borers
2021 - IRG/WP 21-10975
Novel approaches to protecting wood in coastal and marine environments are needed as the use of traditional broad-spectrum biocides are now restricted. Wood is widely utilised in marine environments where it can be rapidly degraded by wood-boring organisms, causing billions of dollars of damage per annum. Biocidal compounds such as CCA and creosote have been popular treatments for timber products ...
L S Martin, J R Shipway, G P Malyon, S M Cragg


Preliminary investigation for preservation method of CLT using non-pressure treatment
2021 - IRG/WP 21-40919
Cross-laminated Timber (CLT) is increasingly being used in residential and non-residential construction around the world, and some of these areas are at high risk of biodeterioration. Addition to moisture management of construction, preservative treatment of CLT may be needed to prevent decay and termite attack in the area. Pressure treatment being most reliable, is not feasible due to the large d...
T Miyauchi, Y Ohashi, J Miyazaki, R Takanashi, H Shibui, S Isaji, T Shigeyama, Y Sugai, A Yamamoto, T Hramiishi, T Mori, H Matsunaga


Wood modification reduces the feeding rate of the wood boring crustacean, Limnoria quadripunctata
2022 - IRG/WP 22-10993
Adult Adult Limnoria search for new wood once their current piece disintegrates from tunnelling. During this time, they do not have access to wood so experience a period of starvation and must feed again once settled. Wood modification offers protection to marine structures by reducing the feeding rate of Limnoria and therefore can reduce recruitment of adults from distant pieces of wood. Chemical...
L S Martin, S Lande, M Westin, S M Cragg


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