IRG Documents Database and Compendium


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The use of image analysis to quantify soft rot decay
1992 - IRG/WP 92-2410
Image analysis techniques can provide quantitative information from visual images. As part of a wider interest in decay assessment methods we have investigated the application of image analysis techniques for quantifying soft rot decay by Chaetomium globosum in transverse sections of birch wood and bamboo. A method for reducing contamination of the section (and image) by the fungal hyphae and of s...
P J Wickens, R J Murphy


Mapping soft rot decay distribution using image analysis
1993 - IRG/WP 93-20011
Image analysis has been shown to be a useful technique for the assessment of soft rot decay caused by Chaetomium globosum in birch and bamboo (Wickens and Murphy, 1992). The technique can permit assessment of decay in individual or small groups of cells and this has been used to undertake soft rot decay mapping in thin sections of bamboo. Assessments were made of the extent of soft rot decay with ...
P J Wickens, R J Murphy, G F M Watts


Using image analysis to rate wood stain trials
1993 - IRG/WP 93-10034
Assessing the extent of fungal discoloration on wood during laboratory trials is a subjective process which provides an opportunity for considerable variation between individual evaluators of specimens. The development of reliable systems for automatically assessing discoloration would minimize evaluator bias and permit comparisons between results from different laboratories. The use of image anal...
C M Sexton, A G Maristany,C C Brunner, J J Morrell


Colonisation of painted wood by Aureobasidium pullulans - Analysis of features and consequences for failure in service
1996 - IRG/WP 96-10144
Wooden blocks of spruce were painted with different paint formulations. Water- and solvent-borne model and commercial paints were used. The painted wooden blocks were inoculated with a spore suspension of Aureobasidium pullulans (de Bary) Berkg. and placed in an environment of high humidity for 14 months. Different colonisation and growth patterns were observed on the different paint surfaces. The...
S L Bardage


Amenability of radial permeability of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.) as affected by aspects of cell ends in uniseriate ray parenchyma tissue
2003 - IRG/WP 03-40252
The principal objective of this article was to recognise and understand the amenability of ray parenchyma cell ends (end platform) in uniseriate ray tissue to influence the radial permeability of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.) by examination of most (Queen Charlotte Islands in Rhondda, South Wales) and the least (South Oregon in Dalby, North-East England) seed origins that grown in ...
I Usta, M D C Hale


Assessment of mould growth on coated wood - methods and application
2009 - IRG/WP 09-20423
Discolouring fungi reduce the service life of coated wooden claddings in façades and increase the total cost of ownership due to shorter maintenance intervals. The project “Enhanced service life on coated wooden facades” has as its main objective to develop new methods for early prediction of durability and longer aesthetic service life of coated wooden cladding related to consumer needs and ...
L Ross Gobakken, C M Whist, O Høibø, P J Hovde, E Larnøy


Copper nanoparticles in southern pine wood treated with a micronised preservative: Can nanoparticles penetrate the cell walls of tracheids and ray parenchyma?
2010 - IRG/WP 10-30547
This study tests the hypothesis that copper nanoparticles can penetrate the cell walls of southern pine wood treated with a micronised preservative. We examined the nanodistribution of particles in tracheid and ray parenchyma cell walls using state-of-the-art HR (High Resolution)-TEM and HR-STEM (Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope)-EDX. These devices are capable of atomic-scale resolution. ...
H Matsunaga, Y Kataoka, M Kiguchi, P Evans


LOSP for glulam, when should the treatment be applied?
2011 - IRG/WP 11-30555
Treatment options for outdoor above-ground (H3) exposed glulam of Pinus radiata and P. elliottii were examined. Beams were treated with azole LOSP (containing a zinc tracer) aiming for retentions of 35-40 l/m3 or 70-80 l/m3. Treatment was conducted either before or after gluing. TBTN LOSP and CCA were included as comparative treatments. Test specimens for exposure were cut after treatment, while w...
L J Cookson


Copper Nanoparticles in Southern Pine Wood Treated with a Micronised Preservative: Nanodistribution of Copper in the Pit Membrane and Border of an Earlywood Bordered Pit
2011 - IRG/WP 11-30566
Copper nanoparticles can penetrate the cell walls of unlignified parenchyma cells in southern pine wood treated with a micronised wood preservative, but they are excluded from lignified tracheid walls. This paper extends these observations to include the cell wall layers of the bordered pit. Focused ion beam and ion milling were used to make an ultra-thin section of the cell wall layers of an earl...
H Matsunaga, Y Kataoka, M Kiguchi, P Evans


Accessibility of Wood Cell Walls to Well-defined Platinum Nanoparticles
2012 - IRG/WP 12-20494
Copper nanoparticles are found in the walls of parenchyma cells in southern pine sapwood treated with a micronised wood preservative, but they are absent from tracheid walls. Hence, we hypothesized that small nanoparticles can penetrate the walls of unlignified parenchyma cells, but are excluded from lignified tracheid walls. This paper tests this hypothesis by treating pine sapwood with an aqueou...
H Matsunaga, Y Kataoka, M Kiguchi, P D Evans


Image analysis for mould and sapstain detection on wood
2013 - IRG/WP 13-20519
Laboratory tests for mould growth on wood products are time consuming and rely on visual assessments of specimens utilizing subjective rating systems. Accelerated laboratory methods are needed that can provide rapid, quantitative assessment of mould and sapstain growth on solid and composite wood products. Image analysis of scanned spore imprints from southern pine or oriented strandboard (OSB) sp...
C A Clausen, V W Yang


Studying fungal growth using automated image analysis and computer simulations
2016 - IRG/WP 16-20590
Wooden materials are prone to fungal attack resulting in damage and economic losses. Therefore many efforts have been made to understand the degradation of wood and to avoid the adverse effect of fungi. Even though the extent of degradation of a material is inversely proportional to the extension of the fungi attacking it, most researchers focus mainly on the former, leaving the study of the latte...
G Vidal-Diez de Ulzurrun, J M Baetens, J Van den Bulcke, B De Baets


Assessing the nutrient value of bio-based materials in relation to early fungal growth
2017 - IRG/WP 17-20631
Bio-based materials are gaining importance in the building industry, as the focus on sustainability and life-cycle-assessment has increased dramatically over the last decade. Wood and wood-engineered products as well as insulation materials made from flax, hemp, etc. are hence increasingly used. These materials originate from renewable resources and are often biodegradable, which can cause problem...
L De Ligne, J Van den Bulcke, J Baetens, B De Baets, J Van Acker


Profiling fungal degradation of Scots pine sapwood by short wave infrared hyperspectral image analysis
2020 - IRG/WP 20-20667
Hyperspectral image analysis of Scots pine sapwood wood affected by decay fungi has been carried out as part of a Ph.D. thesis within the project Remote Inspection of Wooden Utility Poles (RIWUP). In a lab experiment, Petri-dishes with Scots pine sapwood samples on malt agar medium were infected with two types of decay fungi, a brown rot and a white rot. The wood samples were scanned with a HySpe...
A Jochemsen, G Alfredsen, I Burud


New methods for estimating the volume of shipworm tunnels supported by image analysis
2020 - IRG/WP 20-20668
In marine environment, the main threat for wood is the bioerosion by woodborers, both peracarid crustaceans (such as gribbles Limnoria and pincher scuds Chelura) and bivalve molluscs (shipworms, Teredinidae). The damage caused by gribbles on wood structure is surficial and easy identifiable, whereas the damage caused by shipworms is internal, therefore not evident, inducing unexpected crashes wit...
I Guarneri, M Sigovini, E Keppel, D Tagliapietra


Investigating wood anatomical factors influencing the treatability of refractory southern pine- an imaging approach
2023 - IRG/WP 23-40975
Southern pine sapwood is non-durable, and preservative treatment is necessary to protect it against biological degradation. According to AS 1604.1 2021, timber products must have their sapwood fully treated with preservatives for various applications and hazard classes. However, there is a growing industry concern over the refractory sections of sapwood, which are untreated pockets of wood that do...
M Shirmohammadi, M R Karbaschi, B Hassan, W Leggate


Analysis of tebuconazole in wood treated with Tanalith™ E
1999 - IRG/WP 99-20158
A simple gas chromatographic method for determining tebuconazole in Tanalith™ E treated wood is described. A two step sequential extraction procedure with methanol was used. Sample extracts were analysed without cleanup or concentration using capillary column GC with thermionic specific detection. The performance of the method was assessed using radiata pine (Pinus radiata) sapwood, radiata pine...
D E Ferlazzo


The applicability of life cyle analysis and alternative methods in the wood preservation industry
1994 - IRG/WP 94-50023
In the Netherlands, several case studies have been performed using the life cycle analysis method (LCA). This type of research is aimed at an inventory and classification (sometimes including also evaluation) of the environmental impacts of a product, from the raw material to waste stage ("cradle to grave" approach). In a LCA each environmental impact is assessed in terms of, for example, mass of ...
P Esser, J Cramer


Utilization of curcumin for detection of presence of boron in wood
1982 - IRG/WP 3191
It has been shown that curcumin is not a reliable reagent for detecting boron in wood that has been attacked by fungi...
M-L Edlund


Results of chemical analyses in the field of wood preservation in the Bundesanstalt für Materialprüfung
1973 - IRG/WP 321
The results of qualitative and quantitative chemical analyses of wood preservatives are often the basis for evaluating the various works in the field of wood preservation. In the past 10 to 15 years a number of such works was carried out in the Bundesanstalt fur Materialprüfung, Berlin-Dahlem, dealing with the identification and effectiveness of wood preservatives and with methods of wood preserv...
H J Petrowitz


Modelling of PCP migration in the environment: Feeding the models with laboratory data
1993 - IRG/WP 93-50001-08
In 1989, Hydro-Québec began a study program on pentachlorophenol (PCP) to ensure safe use of the product at all stages. One of the aspects of the study is the creation of a predictive system for evaluating the behavior of PCP and oil migration from wood poles to the environment. This system comprises four mathematical models for predicting PCP and oil migration in and on the surface of the pole, ...
A Besner, P Tétreault, R Gilbert


Penetration analysis of two common bamboo species - borak and jawa of Bangladesh
2002 - IRG/WP 02-40247
Preservative treatment of two bamboo species, namely borak (Bambusa balcooa Roxb.) and jawa (Bambusa salarkhanii Alam) was carried out with chromated copper boron (CCB) preservative by dipping method. The variation in preservative penetration between the two different species was determined. It was found that preservative penetrates into borak quicker than into jawa and easier into air-dried bambo...
M O Hannan, A K Lahiry, N M Islam


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


Detection of defects in standing poles by X-ray techniques
1980 - IRG/WP 2132
The application of X-ray techniques to wood pole inspection procedures has been evaluated. Internal defects were accurately identified using X-ray inspection methods. These methods and their possible influence on the safety and economic aspects of wood pale utilization are discussed....
W D Gardner, R S Johnstone, W Pitt


Conforming to european standards for preservative-treated timber: Specifying with confidence
2000 - IRG/WP 00-20194
A four-year collaborative study between four industrial partners and BRE has assessed timber treated by current UK industrial practices in the light of current European Standards. Data were collected for CCA and creosote treated timber components, and compared with the requirements laid out in EN351-1 and -2. A number of difficulties were encountered that have been described in previous IRG papers...
E D Suttie, R J Orsler


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