Your search resulted in 37 documents. Displaying 25 entries per page.
Pre-treatment decay and strength loss of railroad ties, and their prevention
2013 - IRG/WP 13-30610
Evidence of fungal decay in air-drying, untreated railway crossties is referred to as ‘stack burn’ in the industry. The deleterious consequences of stack burn on tie mechanical properties was confirmed by evaluating the impact bending toughness of wood samples taken from untreated tie stock air dried in the southern United States. These results suggest that careful consideration should be give...
A M Taylor, B Jordan, J D Lloyd
Borate treatment of green ties: An initial report on the effects on mechanical properties
2014 - IRG/WP 14-40686
Borates are increasingly used as components of wood preservative systems for railway cross ties (“sleepers”) in the USA. A variety of methods exist for incorporating the borate component; however, the so-called ‘two-step’ treatment, which involves treating the green tie in borate, followed by a pressure treatment with creosote or copper naphthenate after drying (‘seasoning’), offers th...
A M Taylor, J D Lloyd
Best handling practices for wood crossties (sleepers)
2015 - IRG/WP 15-40714
Wooden crossties (sleepers) dominate the rail industry in the USA. Most ties are hardwood treated with oil-borne preservatives using pressure treatment. Incipient decay (called ‘stack burn’) commonly develops during the pre-treatment drying process and reduces tie performance and longevity. Practices to minimize stack burn and enhance wooden tie performance are discussed as an aid to non-wood ...
N Irby, J Lloyd, A Taylor, J Watt
Use of small volume cups in XRF analysis of treated wood retention
2017 - IRG/WP 17-20602
Efforts are underway in the United States to improve the conformance of commercially-treated wood with the applicable retention standards. As part of an effort to devise a practical method for on-site assessment of within-charge retention variation, we investigated whether small-volume x-ray florescence (XRF) sample cups could be used with treated wood. A range of cup sizes, preservative types, re...
R Stelzer, A Taylor, P Lebow
Dual Borate and Copper Naphthenate Treatment of Bridge Timbers:- Potential Performance Enhancements and Cost Savings
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40797
Dual treatment technology combining diffusible preservatives with oil borne preservatives, widely used for crossties in the USA, has now also been commercialized with bridge ties/timbers. In order to understand the implications of these changes, the historic service life of creosote treated bridge timbers in northern and southeastern USA were considered as well as field test data for both creosote...
J Lloyd, C Brischke, R Bennett, A Taylor
Interaction of Boultonizing and through-boring of Douglas fir sapwood
2018 - IRG/WP 18-40833
The interaction of combining through-boring and Boultonizing treatment effects on strength properties was investigated. Small, clear Douglas fir beams were through-bored and/or Boultonized in full factorial design and evaluated for toughness, MOE and MOR. The simulated through-boring treatment lowered the mechanical properties but the Boultonizing process did not. There was also no evidence for a ...
F Gasteiger, J Lloyd, A Taylor
Protecting Sustainable Wood Infrastructure ̶ Improving the Performance of Poles, Piles, Ties & Timbers with Dual Treatments
2019 - IRG/WP 19-30735
Wood is by far the best structural material in terms of environmental impact, as shown by a number of LCA studies. This environmental impact superiority can be improved if the longevity of the commodity is extended. The main durability concern in large cross-section treated materials is the susceptibility of the heartwood to decay, as it is not typically treatable using traditional methods. This ...
J Lloyd, A Taylor, C Brischke, N Irby, M Manning
Relative efficacy of various oxine copper formulations against brown-rot fungi
2019 - IRG/WP 19-30741
This paper investigates the relative resistance of three different oxine copper formulations (oil-borne, water-borne, water-borne with pH-adjustment) as a preservative treatment for wood against brown-rot fungi. Impregnated southern pine sapwood cubes were exposed to R. placenta and G. trabeum cultures in a soil-block test. After eight weeks, the weight losses of the cubes were examined in relatio...
M Petruch, J Lloyd, A Taylor
Preservative Treatment of CLT: An Example at Shimojishima Airport
2019 - IRG/WP 19-30748
Cross laminated timber (CLT) is a relatively new construction method that allows multi-storey construction using solid wood instead of concrete or steel. It is a method favoured by progressive architects and recognized for its much lower environmental footprint. Wood is an excellent construction material and is a long-term carbon sink that also performs well in the event of earthquakes and fire....
J Lloyd, N Yamashita, A Taylor
Word wrangling: the art of editing scientific publications
2019 - IRG/WP 19-50356
The main method by which scientists communicate their findings to the world is through journal papers, but many scientists struggle with the task of self-editing, and some find writing itself to be a chore. Understanding the different stages of editing, and what takes place in each of those stages, can help to reduce the complexity of the editing task, assist an author to self-edit, and reduce cos...
J Taylor
The Resistance of Some Commercially Thermally Modified American Hardwoods to Termites and Fungi
2022 - IRG/WP 22-40944
Thermally Modified Wood (TMW) is now being produced in the United States but there are few data on the durability of these materials. In this study, commercially-produced thermally modified yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), red maple (Acer rubrum), and white ash (Fraxinus americana) were evaluated for fungal and termite resistance. The resistance of the three TMW species against Gloeophyllu...
B Cortes, B Bond, A Taylor, J Lloyd
Evaluation of vacuum borate treated spruce or pine CLT in an above ground protected test in southern Mississippi
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41001
Cross laminated timber (CLT) has become a popular wood composite in large building applications that were previously limited to concrete and steel. To extend service and prevent biological attack, chemical protectants are often applied to wood. Cross laminated timber panels are not typically treated, in part due to a lack of data on efficient and effective methods for treating large panels. Ther...
M E Mankowski, A Taylor, G T Kirker