Your search resulted in 56 documents. Displaying 25 entries per page.
Natural durability of Norwegian wood species for above ground applications – Project presentation and preliminary results
2006 - IRG/WP 06-10594
In Norway exterior wood structures have traditionally nearly exclusively been made of treated and untreated Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). In recent years there has been a tendency that other tree species, like various domestic hardwoods and imported species have been used in exterior above ground applications, often unfinished. For several wood speci...
P O Flæte, G Alfredsen, F G Evans
Screening of the efficacy of tall oils against wood decaying fungi
2004 - IRG/WP 04-30354
Tall oil is a by-product in pulping of resinous wood by the sulphate process. Tall oil contains a complex mixture of wood extractives. Some of these extractives act as natural protection against wood decaying fungi while other serve as nutrition for the fungi.
This report describes a screening of the efficacy of four refined tall oils with different chemical composition on wood decaying fungi. ...
G Alfredsen, P O Flæte, A Temiz, M Eikenes, H Militz
Chitosan for wood protection - state of the art
2005 - IRG/WP 05-30378
The aim of this paper was to give a state of the art description of chitosan as a wood protecting agent. Chitosan is a metal free natural compound derived from crustacean shells and is under evaluation as an environmentally benign wood protecting agent. Information from journals states that chitosan may act both fungistatically and at higher concentrations, as fungitoxic, but the mode of action is...
M Eikenes, G Alfredsen, E Larnøy, H Militz, B Kreber, C Chittenden
Evaluation of decay fungi in Norwegian buildings
2005 - IRG/WP 05-10562
During a period of 2 years and 3 months (1 January 2001 - 20 March 2003) Mycoteam had 3161 consultations in buildings in southern Norway, 1428 revealing damage from decay fungi. One consultation often revealed several occurrences of fungi, and the total number of occurrences of decay fungi was 3434. Thirty-five different species/genera/groups of decay fungi were recorded. During this period brown ...
G Alfredsen, H Solheim, K Mohn Jenssen
Moisture correction for ultrasonic MOE measurements above fibre saturation point in Scots pine sapwood
2006 - IRG/WP 06-20333
There is a high correlation between methods for dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOEdyn) and static modulus of elasticity (MOEstat). MOEdyn methods have been found sensitive to detect early stages of decay and may be seen as an option for non-destructive wood durability testing. As the MOEstat measurements do not change after reaching the fibre saturation point, the uncorrected MOEdyn data from ultr...
E Larnøy, G Alfredsen, H Militz
Wood plastic composites from modified wood. Part 2 - Durability in laboratory decay tests
2006 - IRG/WP 06-40353
The decay resistance of wood plastic composites, WPCs, was tested according to modified versions of AWPA E10 (soil-block test) and ENV 807 (tests in three un-sterile soils, terrestrial microcosms, TMCs). The WPC materials were conically extruded profiles with 30% polypropylene content. The 70% wood content was untreated Scots pine sapwood, acetylated pine and heat treated Norway spruce, respective...
M Westin, P Larsson Brelid, M L Edlund, G Alfredsen
Molecular methods as a tool within the field of wood protection – available methods and new possibilities
2007 - IRG/WP 07-20361
The area of wood protection is in a period of change. New tools are needed to understand the mode of action, and to further improve the new wood protection systems. A set of useful tools are found among the molecular methods. This paper presents an overview of some of the tools available, and the methods are exemplified by papers within the frame of wood protection issues.
However, there is stil...
G Alfredsen, A M Hietala, C G Fossdal, H Solheim
A step towards a better understanding of fungal colonization of modified wood - QRT-PCR studies
2008 - IRG/WP 08-10653
The area of wood protection is in a period of change. New wood protection systems have been developed while their mode of action remains insufficiently understood. The development of molecular methods provides potential tools to investigate the interaction between modified wood and decay fungi. One small step to tackle some of the unsolved questions about the mode of action of modified wood is tak...
G Alfredsen, A Pilgård, A Hietala
Natural durability of different wood species in above ground applications - Weight and MOE loss
2008 - IRG/WP 08-10667
In Norway, exterior wood structures have traditionally, nearly exclusively been made of untreated Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) and pressure treated Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). In recent years there has been a tendency that other wood species, like various Norwegian hardwoods or imported species, have been used in exterior above ground applications, often not surface treated. For se...
F G Evans, P-O Flæte, G Alfredsen
In-service performance of wood depends upon the critical in-situ conditions. Case studies.
2008 - IRG/WP 08-20382
Wood is a unique building material, but is by nature designed to deteriorate. A detailed
understanding of the factors and interactions involved are important when working with service life prediction of wooden components in buildings. Wood may experience exponential fungal degradation caused by variation in the climatic factors within a small limited area and by minor imperfection in the wooden ...
L Ross Gobakken, J Mattsson, G Alfredsen
Postia placenta gene expression of oxidative and carbohydrate metabolism related genes during growth in furfurylated wood
2009 - IRG/WP 09-10701
A range of studies the last decade have shown that modified wood can provide excellent protection against a range of wood deteriorating organisms, including decay fungi. However, we still lack information about why the modified wood is protected from microbial attack. Several hypotheses have been put forward e.g. inhibition of action of specific enzymes, but they still need testing. An understandi...
G Alfredsen, C G Fossdal
Durability and fungal colonisation patterns in wood samples after six years in soil contact evaluated with qPCR, microscopy, TGA, chitin- and ergosterol assays
2009 - IRG/WP 09-20402
There is a need to establish new objective and sensitive methods for early detection and quantification of decay fungi in wood materials. Molecular methods have proven to be a useful tool within wood protection issues, however, this field is still poorly explored and so far relatively few have used these methods within the field of wood deterioration. Among the techniques used in the indirect quan...
A Pilgård, G Alfredsen, I Børja, C Björdal
Postia placenta gene expression during growth in furfurylated wood
2010 - IRG/WP 10-10734
Modified wood can provide protection against a range of wood deteriorating organisms. But we still lack information about why the modified wood is protected from microbial attack. Several hypotheses have been put forward for the mode of action against wood decaying fungi, including inhibition of action of specific enzymes, but they still need further testing. In this study gene expression of the b...
G Alfredsen, C G Fossdal
Measurements of rot fungal activity as a function of moisture content by isothermal calorimetry
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20428
Measurements of heat production rate have been made on wood samples with the brown rot fungus Postia placenta at different moisture contents. The results clearly indicate that the heat production rate (a measure of respiration rate and activity) is moisture dependent. When the moisture content is decreased, less heat is produced, and when the moisture content is increased, more heat is produced. I...
L Wadsö, A Pilgård, G Alfredsen
Natural durability of wood tested in different environments in Northern Europe
2011 - IRG/WP 11-10747
Moisture is often recognised as a key factor regarding the long time performance of wooden products, and one of the main challenges for timber products is to predict accurate service life in use class 3 (not covered above ground) and use class 4 (in soil or fresh water contact). A range of durability classification studies have been performed both in field and laboratory. But for several wood spec...
P O Flæte, G Alfredsen, F G Evans
Basidiomycete colonization of Scots pine sapwood quantified by qPCR and TGA
2011 - IRG/WP 11-10750
Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is an important softwood species in Northern Europe and is frequently used as material for various wood protection systems. In Europe, EN 113 is the standard basidiomycete laboratory durability test method, using mass loss as evaluation criteria. In this paper quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to characterize coloniza...
G Alfredsen, S Bollmus, T K Bader, K Hofstetter
The effects of acetylation level on the growth of Postia placenta
2011 - IRG/WP 11-10751
To understand the defence mechanisms utilized by decay fungi when exposed to different wood protection systems the study of gene expression can give us some answers. When the DNA sequences are known, primers can be designed to detect transcripts of genes with gene products related to basic cellular processes and hyphal growth. The characteristic gene products induced in different fungi by differen...
A Pilgård, G Alfredsen, C G Fossdal, C J Long II
Molecular investigation of Postia placenta growing in modified wood
2011 - IRG/WP 11-10756
Brown rot is the most common and destructive type of fungal decay for wood in service. These fungi depolymerize preferentially the structural carbohydrates, cellulose and hemicellulose in the cell wall leaving oxidized lignin behind. Modified wood can provide protection against a variety of wood deteriorating organisms, including decay fungi. However, there is still little known about the mode of ...
B Schmöllerl, G Alfredsen, C G Fossdal, M Westin, A Steitz
Durability of modified wood in UC3 and UC4. Results from lab tests and 5 years testing in 3 fields
2011 - IRG/WP 11-40562
In 2005 an extensive test program including field tests was set up in order to obtain more data on the durability and long term performance of modified wood and semi-durable wood species. One of the main challenges for modified wood is to predict accurate service life time in UC3 (use class 3, above ground) and UC4 (use class 4, in soil or fresh water contact). So far, data from in-service condi...
M Westin, G Alfredsen
Decrease of stiffness properties of degraded wood predicted by means of micromechanical modeling
2011 - IRG/WP 11-40570
Wood exhibits a highly anisotropic mechanical behavior due to its heterogeneous microscopic structure and composition. Its microstructure is organized in a strictly hierarchical manner from a length scale of some nanometers, where the elementary constituents cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, and extractives are found, up to a length scale of some millimeters, where growth rings composed of earlyw...
T K Bader, K Hofstetter, G Alfredsen, S Bollmus
Extractives in Norwegian-Grown and North American-Grown Western Redcedar and Their Relation to Durability
2012 - IRG/WP 12-10762
The extractives responsible for the natural durability of western redcedar (WRC) are not well understood. Recent work by the Norwegian Institute of Wood Technology and the Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute has evaluated the natural durability of Norwegian wood species and reference species, including Norwegian-grown WRC and North American-grown WRC, in a series of decay tests. The availabil...
R Stirling, P O Flæte, G Alfredsen, P I Morris
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
Durability of timber products – Part 2: Proposal for an IRGWP - Durability Database
2012 - IRG/WP 12-20497
A proposal for a web-based platform for scientific exchange of test data in the field of wood durability and wood protection has been made. The overall aim of the durability data base is to improve the usability of existing test data and to create an added value for durability research and service life prediction.
The database allows for test results from standardized and non-standardized laborat...
C Brischke, L Meyer, G Alfredsen, M Humar, L Francis
Durability of timber products –Part 1: Inventory and evaluation of above ground data
2012 - IRG/WP12-20498
The material-inherent resistance of wood is one of the most important qualities influencing the durability of timber. Hence, it has also a major effect on the service life to be expected from a timber construction. In addition, design details and the respective climatic conditions determine durability and make it impossible to treat wood durability as an absolute value. Moreover, the reference mag...
C Brischke, L Meyer, G Alfredsen, M Humar, L Francis, P O Flæte, P Larsson Brelid
The effects of acetylation level on the growth of Postia placenta over 36 weeks
2012 - IRG/WP 12-40589
Genomic sequencing gives us a tool to systematically and rapidly discover novel genes, how their products function in the cell, and explore their interactions. When the DNA sequences are known, primers can be designed to detect transcripts of genes with gene products related to basic cellular processes and hyphal growth. The characteristic gene products induced in different fungi by different wood...
A Pilgård, G Alfredsen, C G Fossdal, C J Long II