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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


In-ground durability of wood-based products – Comparative assessment of graveyard field tests and terrestrial microcosms
2014 - IRG/WP 14-20538
Traditionally wood durability and the effectiveness of wood preservatives are determined in so-called graveyard tests (according to EN 252 or AWPA E7). For laboratory testing, terrestrial microcosms (TMC) can serve as an alternative. Both tests have been applied for different types of wood-based materials, preservative treated, modified and unmodified wood. However, the usability of laboratory res...
A Soetbeer, L Meyer, C Brischke, P Larsson-Brelid, J Jermer


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


Using Commercial Water Repellent Chemicals on Wood Protection
2014 - IRG/WP 14-30656
Lately, researchers have been looking for process and products that use environmental friendly technologies in wood protection. These sorts of innovations on wood protection should be carried out for wood evaluated at outdoor conditions. Using water repelling chemicals is one of those innovations which improve wood durability and dimensional stability by decreasing content of moisture. In this ...
G Köse, A Temiz, S Demirel, O E Özkan


Ammoniacal Copper Zinc Arsenate Preservative Treated Wood Ties Their Performance in Testing and Track
2014 - IRG/WP 14-30636
While not a new preservative system, Ammoniacal Copper Zinc Arsenate (ACZA), had not previously been used to protect crossties. Its performance in treating difficult or refractory species of wood has been documented through its wide range of uses approved in AWPA. The establishment of appropriate testing for railroad material use was put in place and includes laboratory, field as well as commercia...
T Carey


Copper naphthenate treatment for wood crossties and timbers
2014 - IRG/WP 14-30647
Copper naphthenate (CuN) has a long history in wood preservation and is recently finding increased usage as a treatment for wooden crossties and timbers. One of the principal reasons that CuN has gained market acceptance, in addition to its efficacy against decay fungi and wood-destroying insects, is its low mammalian toxicity and environmental impact. CuN is a well proven non-restricted use pres...
J Brient


Hydroponic Phytoremediation of Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) and Copper Contaminated Water
2014 - IRG/WP 14-50304
The removal of selected metals by duckweed (Lemna minor) and parrotfeather (Myriophyllum aquaticum) from a simulated aqueous environment contaminated with Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) and copper sulfate was studied in a controlled laboratory experiment. The duckweed and parrotfeather’s tissues were analyzed to evaluate the removal of copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), and arsenic (As) from CCA cont...
C Keith, H Borazjani, S Diehl, Y Su, Fengxian Han, B Baldwin


Nano-Zycosil in MDF. Part I: Gas and Liquid Permeability
2014 - IRG/WP 14-40652
Effects were studied of zycosil nanoparticles, with size range from 20 to 80 nm, on liquid and gas permeability of medium density fiberboard. Nanozycosil was used at four consumption levels of 0, 50, 100, and 150 g/kg dry wood fibers. Density of all treatments was kept constant at 0.67 g/cm3. The obtained results indicated that the addition of zycosil to the mat resulted in a significant increase...
H Reza Taghiyari, A Karimi, P M D Tahir, O Schmidt, E Bari, P Nouri , A Jahangiri


Decay resistance of wood-plastic composites reinforced with extracted or delignified wood flour
2014 - IRG/WP 14-40655
The moisture and decay resistance of wood-plastic composites (WPCs) reinforced with extracted or delignified wood flour (WF) was investigated. Three different extractions were preformed: toluene/ethanol (TE), acetone/water (AW), and hot water (HW). Delignification (DL) was performed using a sodium chlorite/acetic acid solution. All WPCs specimens were made with 50% by weight HDPE and WF, first com...
R E Ibach, Yao Chen, N M Stark, M A Tshabalala, Yongming Fan, Jianmin Gao


Effect of Nano-Wollastonite on Water Absorption in Particleboard
2014 - IRG/WP 14-40662
Effects of wollastonite nanofibers on physical properties of particleboard were studied. Nano-wollastonite (NW) was applied at 5, 10, 15, and 20 g/kg, based on the dry weight of wood-chips, and compared with control specimens. Two application methods of NW were used: surface application (SA), and internal application (IA). Density was kept constant at 0.68 g/cm3 for all treatments. Tests were carr...
S Karimi, H Reza Taghiyari, A Karimi, P M Tahir, J Abdul Halip


Effect of polyurea coatings on performance of Douglas-fir in tropical above ground exposures
2014 - IRG/WP 14-40665
The potential for using polyurea barriers to limit fungal and termite attack was investigated on Douglas-fir lumber and timbers. Termites were capable of penetrating the barrier to attack non-treated wood as well as wood dip-treated with disodium octaborate. The coatings were also exposed above ground for 48 months in Hilo Hawaii. Samples were dissected to detect internal decay. Coated non-trea...
S Uysal, J J Morrell


Performance of some wood modification treatments against marine borers
2014 - IRG/WP 14-40668
Since some years, new treatment technology to protect wood against wood destroying fungi is introduced. Limited knowledge on their resistance to water organisms is available. Therefore, the resistance of chemically modified wood was assessed in a field test according to the European Standard EN 275 over a period of 3 resp. 5 years at sites in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Scots pine (Pinus syl...
A Klüppel, C Mai, H Militz, S Cragg


Modern Instrumental Methods to Investigate the Mechanism of Biological Decay in Wood Plastic Composites
2014 - IRG/WP 14-40674
Various instrumental techniques were used to study the fungal decay process in wood plastic composite (WPC) boards. Commercial boards exposed near Hilo, Hawaii (HI) for eight years in both sun and shadow locations were inspected and tested periodically. After eight years of exposure, both boards were evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), while a selected area of the board exposed in sh...
G Sun, R Ibach, M Gnatowski, J Glaeser, M Leung, J Haight


The Physical Properties of Heat Treated Fir Wood and Outdoor Durability
2014 - IRG/WP 14-40677
Wood might be easily susceptible to degrade by biotic and abiotic factors. Therefore, wood should be protected from fungi, insects and other degradation factors by applying treatment methods. Especially, for the wood have used in the external environment. Chemical treatment methods have some disadvantages such as use of toxic chemicals (Arsenic and chromium) and treatability of refractory wood spe...
O E Özkan, H Vurdu, A Temiz, G Köse


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


Leachability and Dimensional Stability of Nanosilver-Steamed Densified Poplar
2014 - IRG/WP 14-40684
This study was aimed to investigate leachability and dimensional stability of nanosilver impregnated poplar (Popolus alba), steamed before hot compression. Wood samples were impregnated with nanosilver suspension (200 and 400 ppm) under pressure of 4 bar for 20 minutes. Steam treatment was carried out at 150°C for 2 hours. Then samples were compressed (33%) radially in a hot press at 170°C for 3...
G Rassam, A Talaei, A Ahmadi


Field Performance of Old-Growth and Second-Growth Western Red Cedar Fence Posts with and without Barrier Wraps
2015 - IRG/WP 15-10838
Many authors have suggested natural durability may be lower in second-growth western redcedar than in old-growth. One potential means of offsetting a decline in durability is use of physical barriers to separate the wood from soil. In the present work we compared the durability of old-growth and second-growth western red cedar posts, with and without barrier wraps, in a field test. After ten year...
P I Morris, J K Ingram, R Stirling


Interpretation of moisture monitoring data - Relevance of moisture content thresholds for fungal decay
2015 - IRG/WP 15-10839
It is widely accepted that besides temperature wood moisture content (MC) is the key factor when it comes to durability of wooden structures exposed to weathering. Many approaches to predict the service life of wooden structures have therefore been based on using wood MC as one major input-variable to develop dose-response relationships between material climate and decay response. However, to impr...
L Meyer, C Brischke


Development of a rapid screening method to determine the susceptibility to mould growth of novel construction and insulation products
2015 - IRG/WP 15-20562
Wood-based materials are commonly used in building construction/insulation as a replacement for solid timber. However, these materials are susceptible to microbiological growth and different environmental conditions influence the vulnerability of wood-based materials. Moulds are a common problem found within homes and cause aesthetic damage, health problems and can increase material vulnerability ...
B K Stefanowski, S F Curling, E Mansour, G A Ormondroyd


The combined effect of wetting ability and durability on field performance – verification of a new prediction approach
2015 - IRG/WP 15-20565
Comprehensive approaches to predict performance of wood products are requested by international standards and the first attempts have been made in the frame of European research projects. However, there is still an immanent need for a methodology to implement the durability and moisture performance of wood in a performance classification system. The aim of this study was therefore to establish an ...
C Brischke, G Alfredsen, P-O Flæte, M Humar, T Isaksson, L Meyer


Introduction of the COST FP 1303 Cooperative Performance Test
2015 - IRG/WP 15-20567
COST Action FP 1303 “Performance of bio-based building materials” successfully started in October 2013 and an ambitious program was set up for the four year programme. COST Actions provide an excellent opportunity for collaborative research, e.g. in the frame of Round Robin tests. The idea of this respective test was to distribute a fairly simple test set up to as many places in Europe as poss...
M Humar, C Brischke, L Meyer, B Lesar, N Thaler, D Jones, S Bardage, C Belloncle, J Van den Bulcke, J M Abascal, G Alfredsen, D Baisch, B Brunnhuber, G Cofta, E Grodås, E Frühwald Hansson, M Irle, H Kallakas, J Kers, M Klamer, P Larsson Brelid, A B Maider, K C Mahnert, E Melcher, R Möller, M Noël, L Nunes, G A Ormondroyd, S Palanti, N Pfabigan, A Pilgård, A O Rapp, P Schumacher, E Suttie, T Teppand, M Touza, J Van Acker


Performance of bio-based building materials – viewpoints from the first year of COST Action FP1303
2015 - IRG/WP 15-20572
Maintaining and expanding the market potential for bio-based building products in indoor and outdoor construction uses remains a key activity for industries in the forestry and biotechnological sector, particularly in Europe. Whilst there are ongoing activities within IRG for collecting and populating a database on performance on wood, the performance data for many other (i.e. non-wood) "environme...
D Jones


Building solid foundations to support market growth of preserved wood in the UK – treatment quality, product approval and the largest national field trial of preservative treated wood in 50 years
2015 - IRG/WP 15-30662
The Wood Protection Association (WPA) has just commissioned Britain’s largest ever durability trial of home grown timber, having contracted Building Research Establishment (BRE) to conduct a long term controlled field trial of sawn and pressure treated British Softwood posts at two sites with differing soil conditions. This large scale Field Trial is the last of an innovative and substantial thr...
E Suttie, G Ewbank


Factors Affecting Performance of Preserved Wood Decking Against Decay Fungi
2015 - IRG/WP 15-30663
Decking is the largest market for residential preserved wood in the United States. Preserved decking must be resistant to colonization by decay fungi initiating from spores, and occasionally from mycelia due to elevated soil levels or adjacent untreated wood. The most vulnerable parts of a preserved wood deck are untreated, or under-treated, wood that becomes exposed by field cuts and checking. Fi...
R Stirling, P I Morris


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