Your search resulted in 173 documents. Displaying 25 entries per page.
Degradation of resin constituents in various wood species by the white rot fungus Bjerkandera sp. strain BOS55
1999 - IRG/WP 99-10301
In previous studies, the white-rot fungus Bjerkandera sp. strain BOS55 was shown to cause extensive degradation of lipophilic extractives (resin) in Scots pine wood. Further research was carried out in order to investigate the ability of Bjerkandera sp. for reducing resinous constituents in various softwood (Douglas fir, larch and spruce) and hardwood species (birch, beech and poplar). The greates...
J Dorado, T A Van Beek, F W Claassen, R Sierra-Alvarez
Aquatic toxicity research of structural materials
1998 - IRG/WP 98-50114
Continuing from preliminary results reported on the aquatic toxicity of some tropical hardwoods under high hazard conditions, a more comprehensive research study is set-up in order to assess the environmental toxicology of various structural materials in water applications. Hazard class 4 preservative treated wood is tested for its toxic response on a battery of aquatic test organisms, next to con...
G M F Van Eetvelde, S De Geyter, P Marchal, M Stevens
Test methods for modifies wood: The EU-Thematic network approach
2002 - IRG/WP 02-20255
The last decade wood modification systems have become new wood treatment methods in Europe. Alongside several industrial initiatives for heat treatments also scaling up and pilot plant projects for chemical wood modification have recently been carried out. In 2000 an initiative to create a network related to these new developments was supported by the European Commission. Within the work proposed ...
J Van Acker, D Jones
Potential use of an emulsified tar oil fraction as a wood preservative: Preliminary technological and environmental assessment
1994 - IRG/WP 94-50028
In order to meet the recent environmental concern specifications of creosote are altered, the B[a]P content is limited and restrictions on the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and higher polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are expected in some countries. Research has been conducted on an emulsion of a selected tar oil fraction. Using a waterborne formulation opens new perspectives for targ...
G M F Van Eetvelde, R Leegwater, M Stevens
Alternative methodology for the environmental impact assessment of treated wood: the wood emissions ecotoxicology
2000 - IRG/WP 00-50161
Preservative products and technologies are important for optimising the use of wood and wood products in our society. The regulations of their use under the european Biocidal Products Directive 98/8/EC will require an evaluation of the environmental impact of treated wood. The methodology currently used for this determination is the PEC/PNEC ratio. It consists of calculating PEC values (Predictive...
P Marchal, H W Wegen, J Van Acker, E Melcher, R-D Peek, W J Homan, D Aston, D Rudolph, E F Baines
Variation in field test performance of untreated and CCA-treated lesser-known Surinamese wood species
2000 - IRG/WP 00-20213
In Suriname three different field test sites have been used to verify the biological durability of CCA-treated wood and a range of wood species including lesser-known and lesser-used wood species. In total 37 tropical wood species were tested untreated and for 17 of the less durable species CCA-treatments were included as well. Although the three sites are located in the tropical region they diffe...
J Van Acker, M Stevens, L Comvalius
L-joint based testing for service life prediction of exterior plywood in out of ground contact conditions
2006 - IRG/WP 06-20342
Good biological performance of several plywood types in exterior conditions is most probably related to altered wood moisture behaviour compared to solid wood. Therefore a test set up was developed, using EN 330 L-joint testing methodology, to facilitate differentiation of plywood for exterior applications.
The proposed test set up is an adaptation of an accelerated L-joint method introduced by V...
J De Smet, I De Windt, J Van Acker
Testing biological durability of wood-plastic composites
2006 - IRG/WP 06-20347
Testing biological durability is inherently different for wood-plastic composites (WPC) compared to solid timber. However there is clearly a need for more information on the durability of WPC’s, on the effect of decay on the material properties of WPC’s and on methods for assessing decay of WPC’s. For the emerging European WPC market there has been some discussions on how to work on these to...
J Van Acker
Service life prediction of plywood
2007 - IRG/WP 07-20367
Plywood is the wood based panel showing the best physical and mechanical properties for application under moist construction conditions. Appropriate physico-mechanical durability for exterior applications in transportation or construction systems can be guaranteed by assessment of the glue bond quality and mechanical characteristics. However, due to the fact that mainly non-durable wood species ar...
J Van Acker, J De Smet
Service life prediction of wood: scale-dependent tools within a bio-engineering framework
2008 - IRG/WP 08-20387
Service life prediction (SLP) is a complex yet essential method for the building industry. Accurate and precise assessment of the components is crucial for a strong position of wood on the market. As it is a biological material, wood has an inherent variability and is susceptible to fungal attack. Therefore a profound knowledge of these characteristics is the corner stone of SLP for wood products....
J Van den Bulcke, J Van Acker, M Stevens
COST Action E37. Sustainability Through New Technologies For Enhanced Wood Durability -
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40417
The main overall objective of the Action was to concentrate on the contribution of wood durability to sustainability through the development of systems for quality assurance and performance classification of modified wood and wood products as alternatives to wood treated with traditional preservatives. By this means it seeked to improve and consequently to increase the cost-effective use of compon...
R-D Peek, J Van Acker
Wood plastic composites from modified wood. Part 3. Durability of WPCs with bioderived matrix
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40423
The decay resistance of fully bio-derived wood plastic composites, WPCs, was tested in both laboratory and field tests. The laboratory tests were performed according to modified versions of AWPA E10 (soil-block test) and ENV 807 (tests in three un-sterile soils) and the field tests according to EN 252 (stakes in ground) and EN 275 (resistance to marine borers). The WPC materials for laboratory tes...
M Westin, P Larsson Brelid, B K Segerholm, M Van den Oever
Continuous moisture measurement (CMM) to detect failure of moisture resistance
2009 - IRG/WP 09-20422
A wood coating system will fail to perform properly after a certain time of weathering. From that moment, the substrate is especially prone to fungal attack. Moisture plays a key role on weathering performance, wood protection efficacy and decay susceptibility of wood. Therefore, knowledge of the moisture dynamics of the applied wood protection is of significant importance in the prediction of the...
I De Windt, J Van den Bulcke, J Van Acker
The biological durability approach for wood product performance and service life prediction
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20457
The performance of wood-based products under conditions that enable biodegradation are of concern to all who envisage sustainable use of forest based products. This concern is also the basis of classification of wood species on the basis of their biological durability. Engineers are looking for options to transfer such classification into practical service life values for constructions and related...
J Van Acker, J Van den Bulcke, L De Boever
Improved analysis of field test data related to service life prediction of tropical wood species
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20458
Long field trials of wood in ground contact give valuable data on the natural durability of the material. The European Standard EN 350 gives guidance on how to perform these durability classification, but is limited to the use of averages of in-service life of a set of specimens compared to a reference set. Starting from a database of visual assessment of field stake testing, it is possible to obt...
J Van den Bulcke, A Wong, Ling Wang Choon, Yoon Soo Kim, J Van Acker
Accelerated L-joint performance testing of organosilicon treated wood
2010 - IRG/WP 10-30551
In this research Scots pine sapwood L-joints were treated with organosilicons and organosilicons in combination with biocides. These L-joints were prepared and exposed according to the accelerated L-joint method. They were inspected each season for fungal discolouration and removed from the rack after three years outdoor exposure. Subsequently the moisture content, mass loss and decaline uptake we...
L De Vetter, J Van Acker
Impact of wood species on the performance of exterior wood coatings
2010 - IRG/WP 10-40519
To prolong the service life of a wooden construction the protective function of a coating is of utmost importance. The chemical composition as well as the wood-coating interface affects the performance of this protective layer and obviously wood species have an impact too. This paper discusses the influence of wood species on the overall coating performance. Therefore, a range of opaque waterborne...
I De Windt, J Van den Bulcke, J Van Acker
Moisture dynamics of WPC as basis for biological durability
2010 - IRG/WP 10-40520
The largest market for wood-polymer composites (WPCs) is currently decking. Although many products are commercially available, a proper standard for the assessment of the biological durability of WPC does not exist. Recommended standards for testing resistance against basidiomycetes should be completed with a method to bring the specimens in a worst case situation, obtaining a moisture level high ...
N Defoirdt, J Van Acker, J Van den Bulcke
Non-destructive evaluation of wood decay
2011 - IRG/WP 11-20479
Evaluation of wood decay is often prone to subjective assessment. Standard rating scales are based on human perception of decay, often in addition to weight loss measurements. Especially the assessment of graveyard specimens or other long term testing material that has to be monitored regularly on a non-destructive basis, is challenging. In this paper two techniques are presented that can deliver ...
J Van den Bulcke, I De Windt, N Defoirdt, J Van Acker
Limited variability in biological durability of thermally modified timber using vacuum based technology
2011 - IRG/WP 11-40567
The SmartHeat® thermal timber treatment is a new technology based on the process parameters being steered very precisely mainly due to the vacuum applied and heating system involved. Timber treated with this technology shows a potential for less variability of biological durability in one batch. Several batch treatments were sampled and assessed on statistical variability of decay resistance agai...
J Van Acker, S Michon, J Van den Bulcke, I De Windt, B Van Swaay, M Stevens
Coconut lumber for wood decks (Cocos nucifera L.): decay resistance against Basidiomycetes fungi
2012 - IRG/WP 12-10784
Since a couple of years, manufactured products of coconut wood for outdoor uses like wood decks have been proposed on the European market. These are presented as an alternative for traditional tropical timbers. In the past, coconut wood was neglected and burned for sanitary reasons and lack of interest at industrial scale. Plantation coconut trees at end of production of copra constitute a renewab...
B Jourez, C Verheyen, J Van Acker
Plywood under the scanner: linking moisture dynamics and 3D structure
2012 - IRG/WP 12-20491
Plywood is highly esteemed as a construction material. Yet, the influence of moisture on both strength and durability are important factors. Especially the dynamics of moisture desorption and absorption should be taken into account when assessing the quality of a panel, which is a fact for all panel materials. This paper therefore focuses on the monitoring of the moisture dynamics of plywood subje...
J Van den Bulcke, I De Windt, N Defoirdt, J Van Acker
Testing service life for use class 3: accelerated L-joint performance of commodities
2012 - IRG/WP 12-20500
Above ground testing is considered important for the assessment of treated wood intended for use class 3. Laboratory testing of efficacy of biocides as well as of natural durability focussing on such applications has to be linked to performance and service life. An accelerated L-joint test was some 15 years ago developed at the Ghent University to allow worst case assessment under semi-controlled ...
J Van Acker, J Van den Bulcke, I De Windt, L De Vetter
Protective nanoparticle coating reducing water absorption of wood species
2012 - IRG/WP 12-40614
Nanoparticle coatings were deposited onto different tropical wood samples for controlling the surface hydrophobicity. The styrene(maleimide) nanoparticles were synthesized in aqueous dispersions under pure conditions or in combination with 70 wt.-% palm oil. A first evaluation of the non-coated wood surfaces indicates a high dependence between the water contact angles, the average surface roughnes...
P Samyn, A Paredes, G Becker, H Van den Abbeele, L Vonck, D Stanssens
Detection of Aureobasidium as the dominant fungus on coated wood
2013 - IRG/WP 13-10796
Wood is often covered with a coating in order to protect the surface. Unwanted dark mold growth on paint covered surfaces in external conditions is a familiar phenomenon. Simple microbial techniques have commonly been used to determine the dominant fungal species present in the discoloured area, for example morphological analysis of microscopic preparations of fungal pieces sticking to an adhesive...
E J Van Nieuwenhuijzen, M F Sailer, R A Samson, O C G Adan