Wood welding: A challenging alternative to conventional wood gluing

Abstract

The recent finding of a new way to assemble two pieces of wood by mechanically induced wood welding opens a new and challenging perspective for producing more environmentally friendly wooden products, i.e. without glue. This process, recently applied to solid wood, needs to be better understood to investigate the dependence of the variability of wood properties on the welding parameters. The two applications presented are the linear vibration welding and direct rotational friction welding. In each case different wood species were tested. In the most favourable cases the wood joints yielded structural grade strength. The resulting bond densification was analysed by the mean of wood density maps for oak, beech, spruce and pine. If this technique proves successful, it could change significantly the future of the furniture industry. The objectives of this article are to present the main results obtained so far and to suggest different research areas needed to improve this new way of jointing solid wood.     

Thermo-hydro and thermo-hydro-mechanical wood processing: An opportunity for future environmentally friendly wood products

Abstract

This state-of-the-art report presents the basic concepts of some of the thermo-hydro (TH) and thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) wood processes that are in use today, i.e. heat treatment, compression of wood in the longitudinal or transverse direction and wood welding. The reasons for the growing interest in TH and THM techniques are discussed, and the development of the different concepts, from first ideas to current status, is briefly presented. The physical and chemical changes that occur in wood during TH and THM processing according to the latest research are also presented. Finally, developments that are close to or already have an industrial application are presented, and the challenges for further development of the heat treatment, compression and wood welding processes are discussed. The TH processing of wood is based entirely on water and heat, and a THM process incorporates an additional mechanical force. The purpose of wood transformation by a TH or a THM process is to improve the intrinsic wood properties, to acquire a form and functionality desired by engineers without changing its eco-friendly characteristics or hindering its further use in the total material life cycle. Only a few of the recently developed techniques, e.g. heat treatment, wood welding and various densification applications, have been industrialized to some extent. There are many reasons for this relatively low transfer of the research results to a full up-scaled industrial production. Some of them are related to unsolved problems at the laboratory level on small-sized samples and others are related to the scaling-up processes in industry. Furthermore, the ageing of heated wood leads to deterioration with time, in some cases there is an unpleasant odour, the strength of the wood decreases substantially and the wood becomes more brittle. These are new challenges which need to be resolved by the collaboration of researchers from the different scientific domains of academia, research institutes and industry.     

纤维板热磨机磨片材质开发与研究

Defibrator is a very important machine in the wood industry for producing fiberboard.The refiner plates are the key parts of defibrator that directly act with the wood,and broken easily.The working life of the refiner plates is of significance to the wood industry.It may affect refining quality,production efficiency,and power consumption.In this paper,the abrasion resistance of the refiner plate made of different materials,the stainless steels and high chromium cast irons,were tested and compared.The results showed that abrasion resistance of refiner plate made of high chromium cast irons was better than that of the stainless steel materials.Although the two kinds of materials have the same compositions,their abrasion resistances have apparent difference.The main reason is that the material microstructures have very important effects on their performance.The refiner plates made of developed high chromium cast irons don‘t demand the complex heat treatment.This can simplify the producing process,save the cost of production,decrease labor strength,and increase the production efficiency.     

Crash simulation of wood and composite wood for future automotive engineering

ABSTRACT

Multi material mix is a promising approach to reduce weight and the carbon footprint in automotive engineering at competitive costs. As a result, automotive industry is getting more venturous, exploring and applying other materials than metals and plastics – e.g. fibre reinforced plastics (FRPs). In this context, engineered wood products (EWPs) and wood composites should be considered: Wood composites provide high stiffness, strength, excellent damping, high resistance against fatigue and a very low density at low material costs. It is hypothesized that modern wood composites are competitive to metals and artificial fibre-reinforced materials when designed and applied properly. The application of wood and wood composites in automotive engineering calls for precise and reliable material data, required for initial material selection and later in numerical simulation. In this study, a material model normally used for modelling FRPs was adopted. A material database was generated for three hardwood species, to establish the required material parameters and validate material model. Results prove that wooden components can be simulated in crash situations and the selected material model is applicable, even in full vehicle simulation.     

Determinants of Vietnam’s wood products trade: application of the gravity model

ABSTRACT

This study applied a gravity model estimation using panel data in order to analyze the impact of the determinants of Vietnam’s wood products trade from 2001 to 2016.The gravity estimates imply the importance of size of the economies, distance, level of openness of the economy, population, forest resource endowments of Vietnam’s trade partners, Vietnam’s logging restrictions policy, common border, free trade agreement, and exchange rates as determinants of Vietnam’s wood products trade. These variables were found to have different effects on the export and import of wood products. Vietnam’s access to the WTO and APEC did not help either its imports or exports in wood products. The results of this study also indicate that the Government of Vietnam needs to implement policies to increase investment in the wood processing industry, develop high quality wood materials from domestic plantations, and take advantage of trade preferences from new free trade agreements in order to promote wood product trade. The results of this study have implications for trade policy, resource-based economic development, and Vietnam’s forest resource conservation.     

Aging law of spruce wood

Abstract

Accelerated aging of spruce wood samples have been carried out by thermo-hydro (TH) treatments. These treatments were applied to accelerate the chemical reactions that take place during the natural aging of wood. In order to avoid dissimilar chemical reactions between the TH treatments and the natural aging, mild temperatures (between 100 and 150°C) have been selected at low relative humidity (RH). The mechanical properties of non-aged, natural aged and accelerated aged spruce wood have been compared. It is apparent that longitudinal Young's modulus of accelerated aged wood increase slightly at the beginning of the treatment and is followed by a reduction. Along the radial direction, Young's modulus remains almost unchanged. On the other hand the radial strength is severely reduced. From these results, the relative radial strength has been fitted on the chemical kinetic law. The rate constant of this law has been calculated and the treatment temperature and wood moisture content have been integrated. Finally this law has been extrapolated to standard climatic conditions in order to predict the loss of strength of old wood by knowing its age and its mean climate history of temperature and RH (ambiance condition).     

Relationship of selected cell characteristics and colour of silver birch wood after two different drying processes

Abstract

Change in the colour of silver birch wood is a serious problem in the mechanical wood industry. Here, colour was correlated with microscopic characteristics of wood, such as cell types and dimensions, by drying processes. In conventional drying, with lower temperature than in vacuum drying used here, the most important factor causing darkened wood was wide latewood. In vacuum drying, thickness of the vessel walls affected wood darkening, as did broad rays and large amount of axial parenchyma. Axial and terminal parenchyma cells contained very small amounts of phenolics, but after drying at elevated temperature, a thin dark layer could be observed on the innerside of their walls. Phenolics were abundant in ray parenchyma; these compounds darkened at elevated temperatures, less in conventional drying than in vacuum drying. Phenolics were observed only inside cells, mainly in the parenchyma, but in vacuum-dried wood also in fibres and vessels. Anatomical characteristics are known to be affected by both environmental and genetic factors. Thus it might be possible to influence the colour reaction of birch wood during the drying process by choosing wood according to growing-site conditions, or by choosing the seed source for birch plantations according to given anatomical characteristics.     

The observation of log export banning policy in Indonesia: Conditions, problems, and alternative solutions

In 1985, the government of Indonesia declared an export ban on logs in order to promote the wood processing industry within the country. Furthermore, this policy was followed by a regulation that the concessionaires have to build their own industry, causing a great increase in wood industry. In the early period after the log export ban, the government found it to be successful and there were no significant problems. Unfortunately, after one decade, Indonesia’s forestry sector faced some serious problems,i.e. problems in raw material supply which was lower than the log demand level in the industry, deforestation issues, and ecological imbalance. The main objectives of this study are to identify the effects of the log export ban and to introduce some alternate measures.     

Progress of discoloration in green,freshly cut veneer sheets of black alder (Alnus glutinosa L.) wood

Abstract

Black alder wood has a great potential for more wide-spread use in the woodworking industry. This study describes the colour changes that appeared the first few hours after cutting thin veneer sheets from fresh, unseasoned black alder wood. CIELab coordinates were recorded for 50 spots at time intervals from 0 to 140 minutes exposure of the fresh-cut surfaces. The most pronounced change was increased lightness developing from 20 to 60 minutes after cutting. A model for total colour change as function of exposure time was developed. Redness of veneer sheets increased only slightly, i.e. the expected transfer to orange discoloration of the surface did not occur. The reason for this was probably that part of the free water in the wood was squeezed out during veneer production. The findings of this study give useful information about the colour change that appeared directly after veneer cutting, advising to avoid excess water on wood surface and ensuring quick surface drying.     

Zur Rationalisierung der Beziehungen des Menschen zum Wald 1. Waldfeindliche Tätigkeiten des Menschen und ihre Auswirkungen

On the rationing of relations of man to wood 1. Human activities injurious for wood Numerous human activities diminishing or destroying the stability of wooden ecosystems are described. In the last analysis the causes of it can be found in the economic attitude of man to wood. The subject matter of a next publication in this line shall be the showing of ways which make it possible for man to correct his relations to wood.

---

---

Aus dem Russischen übersetzt vonD. Gepert, Wien     

Management of product development projects in the wood industry

Abstract

This study used data on project management from 70 recent product development projects in the wood industry. The objective was to test the influence of some project management factors, known from cross-industry research to be keys to product development project success, on product development project success in the context of the wood industry. Through the use of hierarchical multiple regression analysis, it was found that both the sharpness of the product concept definition and the strength of the project leader had significant positive influences on the success of product development projects. Conversely, product advantage, team cross-functionality and customer involvement did not have a significant positive influence on the success of these projects. The latter even indicated a negative influence on product development project success. Project uncertainty, as manifested in the degree of newness of the technology and the marketing strategies of the product to the innovating strategic business unit, did not influence the relationship between project management factors and product development project success. Some of the findings were unexpected and may be explained by the industry's unaccustomedness to customer co-operation and the fact that product development in the wood industry takes place within conventional technology and market bounds.     

Use of wood products in multi-storey residential buildings: views of Swedish actors and suggested measures for an increased use

ABSTRACT

Many studies have shown that wooden buildings in general have a lower climate impact than buildings built of conventional materials such as concrete and steel. In Sweden, however, only about 10% of the multi-dwelling buildings are built with timber frames. The goal of this empirical study is to provide a broad picture of the views of Swedish actors regarding the use of wood products in multi-storey residential buildings and suggest measures for an increased use. A questionnaire concerning the use of wood products in construction was sent out to Swedish developers, main contractors, and architects and 100 answers were received. The study shows that the views of the groups of actors differ in some respects and factors that may either facilitate or be obstacles to an increased use of wood products were identified and discussed.     

Weitere Beobachtungen an Speckkäfern (Dermestidae)

Summary Additional observations on Dermestidae (Coleoptera) Additional observations have been described on some life patterns ofDermestes maculatus andDermestes lardarius, two species of the familyDermestidae (Bacon or Skin Beetles). The pupation of the larvae in the wood and the form of their cavities are dealt with; only fungal infected wood is attacked byDermestes. The present observations have also shown thatDermestes do not digest wood. Beetles and larvae consume mainly pure fats or food substances with fatty components. Anatomically certain elements of the mouthparts of the beetles seem to be typical constructed for the fatty nutrition. The hairlike sense organs in the antennae for the reception of smell are most important in locating the food.     

Effect of utilization standard on wood supply and lumber yield

ABSTRACT

Although sustainable forest management is accepted worldwide in concept, challenges in the methods of implementation remain. Using local data sets from Alberta, Canada, we show that a simulation approach can assist the implementation of sustainable forest management by improved understanding of product potential and other forest ecosystem goods and services that forests can provide for a given forest inventory. This will assist facilitating trade-offs among them for an optimal wood utilization strategy to achieve sustainable forest management. In this example, effects of wood utilization standard on merchantable volume, lumber volume, and number of trees that can produce at least one piece of lumber are quantified, and a conversion method for wood volumes under different wood utilization standards is presented. Wood utilization standard is the combination of stump height and diameter inside bark at merchantable height, which considerably influences available volume quantity of forest resource. However, such influences have not been quantified for sustainable forest management implementation. Our results not only confirmed that merchantable and lumber volumes increased with decreasing stump height and diameter inside bark at merchantable height, but also revealed that this trend will not hold when diameter inside bark at merchantable height is less than 7 cm.     

Identification of Value-adding Strategies in the Swedish Sawn Wood Industry

Swedish sawmills are increasing their application of value-adding processes in sawn wood production. This study identified the most common value-adding combinations used by the Swedish sawmills. Data were obtained from a survey of Swedish sawmills in 1995 and from industry statistics. Nine different groupings of sawmills with regard to the level and types of value-adding technologies were identified by cluster analysis. The largest group added value only to marginal quantities of their production. Eight other groups that applied different combinations of value-adding processes were identified. Drying and planing were important elements in several strategies. Adding value to the sawn wood is not a homogeneous strategy; instead it includes several ways to focus production on different products and customer groups. Advanced value-adding processes often generated a higher unit profit margin than the production of commodity sawn wood.     

印度尼西亚木材工业现状及发展前景

木材工业是印尼仅次于石油和天然气的第3大产业。近20年来,印尼的木材工业发展迅速,已成为当今世界上最大的阔叶材胶合板生产国和出口国。本文阐述了印尼木材工业发展战略和政策,生产体系的结构与变化,以及未来的发展趋势。     

Stand Density Management Diagrams for Three Exotic Tree Species in Smallholder Plantations in Vietnam

When smallholder farmers establish tree plantations to sell wood to the wood industry, they may run into problems when the plantations are mature and to be marketed because these farmers usually (1) do not know how to estimate the growing stock and (2) do not have sufficient knowledge of the wood markets. In this study, we tackle problem (1) and present stand density management diagrams (SDMDs) as a simple tool that allows rapid estimation of standing volume from data that stem from very basic inventory. Our data come from smallholder plantations in Vietnam, from four communes in the provinces of Binh Dinh and Phu Tho. Immense afforestation activities have been taken place in the country during the past two decades and it is special to Vietnam that a large share of these afforestations are under smallholder management with the goal to generate an additional source of income for these rural poor. A certain type of SDMDs is elaborated for three important exotic tree species commonly used for establishing industrial tree plantations (Acacia hybrid, Acacia mangium and Eucalyptus urophylla). They can be used for volume estimation and are also a tool to guide stand management and silvicultural treatments in general. Both implementation of the inventory and usage of the SDMDs are straightforward and simple so that this tool may be well suited to support smallholders in a better informed marketing of their wood, as well as, a better informed silvicultural management of their plantations.     

Effects of basic density,annual growth and drying schedule on selected quality factors of dried Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) timber

Abstract

Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) timber is suitable for many uses in the mechanical wood industry. Drying it without any decrease in value, however, is difficult and slow. The purpose of this research was to compare the drying quality of Siberian larch timber dried with three different conventional schedules taking into account the density and annual growth of wood. Five drying tests were performed. The final moisture content (MC), MC gradient, cracks, deformations (bow, crook, twist and cup) and case hardening were measured from the dried timber. The basic density particularly affected the MC, as shown in the differences regarding dried wood, with the denser wood having higher final MC and MC gradient. It was also found that large annual growth increased some deformations. Most of the measured factors were best after drying at the highest temperatures used; however, a slightly different trend was observed for bow, twist and cup. MC factors and twisting were the most problematic properties in drying according to this study. Sorting Siberian larch timber, particularly according to density, would improve the MC properties of dried timber by ensuring sufficient drying time, as economically as possible, for each timber piece.     

Tool wear for lesser known tropical wood species

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between tool wear and some chemical and physical properties for four different Mozambican lesser known tropical species,: Pseudolachnostylis maprounaefolia (ntholo), Sterculia appendiculata (metil), Acacia nigrescens (namuno) and Pericopsis angolensis (muanga). Tool wear is an important aspect for sawmilling and for the woodworking industry. For Mozambique, the utilization of available lesser known wood species will help to increase domestic industry and the economic usage viability of sustainable forest management. A set of experiments was performed on a shaper with a mechanical feed mechanism. Tools of a cemented carbide grade for woodworking were used, and the cutting parameters were fixed. Edge recession and tool wear radius were measured for monitoring tool wear. The wear mechanism was investigated using a scanning electron microscope. The experimental results showed that the chemical properties of the wood species have a great effect on tool wear. Wood silica content was the most important factor affecting tool wear. Wood density and extractives had a low influence on tool wear. The highest tool wear was observed in ntholo, which also had the highest ash and silica contents. A single parameter for evaluation of tool wear was not sufficient to describe the amount of total tool wear.