IRG Documents Database and Compendium


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Your search resulted in 174 documents. Displaying 25 entries per page.


Evaluation of exposure conditions for wooden facades and decking
2009 - IRG/WP 09-20408
During their functional life, building components are exposed to moisture and other environment stress conditions in numerous ways. This is a fact that should be taken into account during manufacture, product development, designing and work execution of building components. For wood material, moisture stress and biological factors like mould and decay fungi are often critical in cladding and decki...
H Viitanen, T Toratti, R Peuhkuri, T Ojanen, L Makkonen


A fast and economic method to produce grey wooden surfaces for decking and cladding: preliminary results
2009 - IRG/WP 09-40474
Uncoated wood is commonly used in France for cladding and decking to minimise maintenance. However wood surfaces progressively turn grey due to exposure to sunlight and water. This grey colour develops after several months depending on the wood species and the exposure: in the northern hemisphere surfaces facing south and west are most exposed and turn grey more rapidly than those facing north and...
L Podgorski, V Georges, I Garmendia, B Sánchez Sarachu


Service life prediction of wooden components – Part 2: Impact of material, exposure and design details
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20440
Dose-response functions permit to estimate the moisture and temperature induced decay potential for any wooden building component and exposure, and thus the service life to be expected. In part 1 of this series dose-response functions were established as a result of double layer field trials carried out at 24 European test sites over up to eight years. Using them makes it no longer necessary to co...
C Brischke, B Lauenstein, M Bilstein, T Bornemann, A O Rapp


The Effectiveness of Machined Profiles at Reducing the Checking of Wooden Decking
2011 - IRG/WP 11-40541
This study tests the hypothesis that ‘the ability of surface profiling to reduce checking of deck boards exposed to weathering will vary with wood species and profile type’. Southern pine (Pinus sp.) and Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis) deck boards were machined to produce three different types of surface profiles: flat (control), ribbed (V-shaped grooves), and rippled (U-shaped grooves). B...
P Evans, I Cullis, P Morris


Comparative studies on the moisture performance and durability of wooden facades
2012 - IRG/WP 12-20492
Wooden claddings are traditionally used in many parts of the world. Also modern structures are frequently made from timber and timber engineering panel products. However, wood has to compete with other cladding materials and its durability needs to assure sufficient functional and aesthetic service life. Besides many other factors the durability of a wooden facade is dominated by its moisture perf...
T Bornemann, C Brischke, J-M Lück


Climatic impacts on the moisture performance of wooden decking and facades
2013 - IRG/WP 13-20518
In outdoor usage wood is exposed to a variety of influences, which reduce its durability against biological deterioration and wetting. Besides many other factors the service life of wooden facades and cladding is dominated by occurring moisture loads on the one hand and their capability to withstand moisture on the other hand. Hence, climatic factors have a direct impact on the material climate an...
T Bornemann, C Brischke, G Alfredsen


Microbiological degradation of wooden piles in building foundations
1988 - IRG/WP 1370
White rot, soft rot and bacterial attack have been detected in softwood piles under buildings. In some cases bacteria were found to be the main degradation organisms in the studied piles. The water content of degraded piles was very high. The compression strength was quite low also in the piles deteriorated by bacteria. The density of wood was very variable, and the degree of degradation could not...
L Paajanen, H Viitanen


Wood preservatives: Field tests out of ground contact. Brief survey of principles and methodology
1976 - IRG/WP 269
This paper contains the following spots: 1.: The general need for field tests. 2.: Interests and limits of field tests in ground contact. 3.: Various methods in use for out-of-ground contact field tests. 4.: Fungal cellar tests are they an alternative to above-ground decay exposure tests? 5.: Conclusions....
M Fougerousse


A new approach on conservation of wooden heritage
2004 - IRG/WP 04-40291
Biodeterioration of wooden art objects has to be treated in a more delicate manner than biodeterioration of wood. Any treatment applied to the art object should not alter the visual, structural or scientific integrity of the object. These requirements therefore restrict the use of biocides and some alternative treatment procedures like high and low temperatures and radiation. Fortunately, an al...
R J Koestler, C Tavzes, F Pohleven


A novel method for delivering fluids into bolted wooden components.
2004 - IRG/WP 04-40280
The paper describes the development of a washer that enables fluids such as wood preservatives and adhesive resins to be delivered to bolted wooden components in-situ. The system was developed to meet the criteria of low cost and the ability to tolerate inaccurate drilling of holes in the wooden members....
G S Sawyer, B Tole


Conservation of wooden cultural property
1994 - IRG/WP 94-30038
A survey of the conservation of wooden archtitectual monuments, art objects and archaeological finds is presented. Each of the three areas has typical conservation problems which reqire the use of selected wood preservatives and consolidation agents. Furthermore specific protection and consolidation methods are necessary. A precise damage diagnosis with non-destructive testing methods is the first...
A Unger, W Unger


A note on testing the efficacy of wood preservatives above ground
1995 - IRG/WP 95-20078
A number of test methods have been used to evaluate the performance of wood preservatives in above ground situations. These have included EN 113 tests following natural exposure weathering (NEWT), L-joint or T-joint tests, lap-joint tests, and decking tests. A new test referred to as the A-frame test has been developed and is under evaluation. This is based on a sandwich-type test in which a thin ...
G R Williams, J A Drysdale, R F Fox


Surface Barriers for Protection of Culture and Heritage Wooden Objects from Insect Attack
2004 - IRG/WP 04-40286
Anoxic treatment is an environment friendly procedure for eradication of wood boring insects in wooden objects of cultural and historical heritage. However, after the anoxic treatment, wooden antiques remain susceptible to further insect attacks. Possible protection against insects could be provided by the so-called post-repression protective barriers. Potential coating materials for such barriers...
M Petric, M Pavlic, B Kricej, M Humar, F Pohleven


Finite element analysis of boron diffusion in wooden poles
2003 - IRG/WP 03-40263
The problem of describing the migration of dissolved boron in wood is treated with special reference to the commonly used remedial treatment of wooden poles. The governing equations are derived and discussed together with some of the material parameters required. The equations are solved by the finite element method and finally, results showing the effect of different treatment strategies are pres...
K Krabbenhøft, P Hoffmeyer, C G Bechgaard, L Damkilde


Microbial biofouling of 10-40% naphthalene in creosote treated and untreated wooden pilings in the marine environment
1978 - IRG/WP 442
R R Colwell, P L Fish, D A Webb, A J Emery


An approach to testing the preventive effectiveness of preservative treatments for wooden joinery
1981 - IRG/WP 2156
The ecological sequence established in field trial samples exposed out of ground contact has shown the need for outdoor exposure in testing potential joinery preservative pretreatments. A system of exposure of L-joint units is proposed. Data obtained by examining samples destructively show promise as the basis for predicting service life after relatively short exposure periods (within 2 years)....
J K Carey, A F Bravery, J G Savory


The effect of service life and preservative treatment on the hardness of wooden poles
1989 - IRG/WP 3537
The surface hardness of utility poles is an important parameter which effects the acceptability of the pole as being safe to climb during line maintenance. The current investigation was designed to evaluate how the surface hardness of preservative treated utility poles is effected by the type of preservative, and the age of the poles. Chromated-copper-arsenate (CCA) treated red pine and jack pine ...
E B Jonsson, E M A Nilsson, J N R Ruddick


A new approach to the maintenance of wooden railway sleepers. (Second report)
1988 - IRG/WP 3492
The microenvironment and micro-ecology of wooden railway sleepers was investigated to assess their condition to determine the necessary treatment, repair and replacement criteria. In this report the efficacy of the secondary preservative treatment with solid boron rods is discussed and the development of an in-situ, nondestructive test method based on the creation and assessment of structural dyna...
W Beauford, P I Morris, A M Brown, D J Dickinson


A new approach to the maintenance problems of wooden railway sleepers
1986 - IRG/WP 3392
The microenvironment of wooden railway sleepers is being investigated to assess their condition to determine the necessary treatment, repair and replacement criteria. The research work involves the development of an integrity tester to determine the condition of sleepers, a remedial treatment of sleepers by selective application of boric acid and a synthetic repair system....
W Beauford, P I Morris.


Analysis of degradation observed on ancient wooden objects buried underground
2001 - IRG/WP 01-10403
Ancient wooden objects were sometimes excavated from the moat of mounded tombs in Japan. Such wooden objects were in the shape of a sunshade, bird, shield, pole, yugi(a bag that holds arrows) among others. Archaeologists discussed the usage of such shaped objects, but no one could clearly explain their use. Some objects were observed using an ordinary microscope. Deterioration by bacteria was foun...
H Sakai


Detection of Acoustic Emission (AE) generated by termite attack in a wooden house
1999 - IRG/WP 99-20166
Recently, considerable attention has been paid to methods for termite control, which involves few or no chemicals. To reduce the amount of termiticide needed, it is necessary to detect termite attack in wood as early as possible. The feasibility of acoustic emission (AE) monitoring for the nondestructive detection of termite attack has been discussed previously. In this study, we propose some tech...
Y Fujii, Y Yanase, T Yoshimura, Y Imamura, S Okumura, M Kozaki


Protecting wooden structures
1980 - IRG/WP 392
Chromium-containing chemicals that effectively retard weathering of wood improve performance of subsequently applied finishes. Current work is focusing on the performance of wood-derived products (plywood, hardboard, fiberboard, particle board) after surface treatment with inorganic chemicals. The overall objective of the continuing research is to investigate new environmentally safe procedures to...
W C Feist


LCA applied for wooden products
1995 - IRG/WP 95-50059
This paper presents some of the international developments within ISO and SETAC to standardize and harmonize LCA methodologies. In this framework it is also important to be aware of the problems that companies have to generate and validate data for the complete product chain from cradle to grave. This concerns problems in nomenclature of substances and processes, system boundaries, allocation prob...
A Kloppenburg, A Van Dam


Wooden windows, avoidance of damage via constructional measures
1990 - IRG/WP 3591
Increasing awareness of the environment reinforces the trend to use wood as a building material for windows in modern building constructions. Wood is a natural building and construction material. Under certain circumstances such as persistent humidity exceeding 30%, wood is rapidly degraded by decay fungi into CO2 and inorganic salts. The cost caused by damage (e.g. replacement of windows) represe...
R Gründlinger, K Messner


Fungal colonization of CCA-treated decking
2003 - IRG/WP 03-10491
The identification of fungi isolated from CCA treated decking in Vancouver is reported. About two thousands locations were sampled from over sixty boards recovered from six decks. Wood chips from each location were placed onto four different types of media. Of the large number of isolates obtained, around 15% were obtained from the interior of the boards. The succession of colonization in CCA-...
S Choi, J N R Ruddick, P I Morris


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