Your search resulted in 1546 documents. Displaying 25 entries per page.
Utilising novel service life prediction methods for robust and precise Life-Cycle-Costing (LCC)
2023 - IRG/WP 23-50384
Life-Cycle-Costing (LCC) is one of the basic indicators for the assessment of sustainability and cost effectiveness in construction applications. Project WoodLCC was thus conceived to enable LCC through input from models for detailed service life planning of wooden components and buildings. The project is a continuation of the service life planning research conducted in Europe over the last three ...
P B van Niekerk, G Alfredsen, T Kalamees, R Modaresi, A Sandak, J Niklewski, C Brischke
Assessment of the condition of wooden mill in the area of Kovačevići in Bosnia and Herzegovina
2023 - IRG/WP 23-11030
An excellent example of cultural and technical heritage is almost 100 year old wooden mills near Cazin in Bosnia and Herzegovina. These mills played an important role, especially in times of Bosnian war (1992-95), when this region was cut off from electricity. The laboratory analysis revealed that the respective mill was made of chestnut (Castanea sativa) and oak (Quercus sp.) wood. The sufficient...
B Lesar, R Hasanagic, M Humar
Characterisation of fungal decay in cable car trestles in Svalbard
2023 - IRG/WP 23-11031
The Arctic will be strongly affected by climate change. In Svalbard the coal mining industry were established in the early 20th century. All man-made structures and sites dating before 1946 in Svalbard are protected by law and considered as cultural heritage. This included the massive cable car trestles that are constructed from untreated Norway spruce and mounted directly into the soil. We hereby...
G Alfredsen, L Ross, M Altgen, I A Yakovlev, A-C Flyen, M S Austigard, J Mattsson, N B Pedersen
Research on gaseous COS degradation by brown-rot fungus Gloeophyllum trabeum
2024 - IRG/WP 24-11033
Physiological studies of wood rotting fungi have mostly focused on the metabolism of carbon and nitrogen sources, which constitute the dominants components of wood. On the other hand, despite the physiological importance of trace elements such as sulfur, studies on their acquisition sources and metabolic pathways are limited. Until now, wood rotting fungi have been thought to utilize slight amount...
R Iizuka, R Tsukida, Y Katayama, M Yoshida
Characterization of cell wall morphology and water-soluble extractives in Japanese larch decayed by white-pocket-rot fungi
2024 - IRG/WP 24-11034
Porodaedalea chrysoloma (Fr.) Fiasson & Niemelä is a basidiomycete that can cause white-rot decay in Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi) heartwood. P. chrysoloma is a white-rot fungus with a unique pattern that causes white-pocket-rot in the xylem of Japanese larch. However, the mechanism by which P. chrysoloma yields the pattern of white-pocket-rot in Japanese larch heartwood remains unclear. Thus,...
Y Mori, H Arai, T Ito, H Hashitani, K Yamashita, Y Ota, M Kiguchi
Wood above ground project – Results and future plans
2024 - IRG/WP 24-11041
In 2000, the Danish Technological Institute (DTI) initiated an extensive study to investigate the natural durability of wood. The study involved exposing wood in various orientations to assess its performance. A total of 35 wood material types were exposed at DTI test site in Taastrup, Denmark. Moisture content (MC) was measured through weighing for the initial five years, decay was assessed follo...
A W Christof, R Digaitis, P Fynholm, J Stenbaek, N Morsing, B Lindegaard
Investigating moisture dynamics and fungal decay risk: integrating X-ray CT visualization and simulation benchmarks through a Fungal Control Unit
2024 - IRG/WP 24-11045
Wood is susceptible to fungal attack and over time the structural integrity can be compromised. This risk is of course strongly related to moisture dynamics, as moisture is needed for fungal growth. While existing methodologies, such as lab and field tests, provide valuable insights into wood decay, they often fall short in replicating real-life conditions, particularly within the intricacies of t...
J Van den Bulcke, J Van Acker, M Delbeke, A Blommaert, N Van Den Bossche, M Steeman, L De Ligne
A novel cellulose-binding domain from the brown-rot fungus that can be used to evaluate cellulose in wood
2024 - IRG/WP 24-11046
Wood-rotting basidiomycetes are the primary microorganisms that decay wood in nature. They are classified as white-rot fungi and brown-rot fungi by the difference in decaying types. White-rot fungi secrete a variety of cellulolytic enzymes during wood degradation. These enzymes often have an additional cellulose-binding domain (CBD) that adsorbs to the cellulose surface and localizes the catalytic...
Y Kojima, N Sunagawa, S Tagawa, T Hatano, S Nakaba, M Aoki, M Wada, K Igarashi, M Yoshida
X-ray fluorescence microscopy of copper ion distribution in decay of copper-treated wood by Fibroporia radiculosa
2024 - IRG/WP 24-11047
Copper is an essential metal ion for eukaryotic life and must strictly be regulated as excess levels can cause oxidative damage, enzyme inhibition and denaturation, interruptions in nutrient transport and even cellular death. Copper-based wood treatments have efficacy against a wide range of biological organisms including decay fungi and are used in the majority of preservative formulations for ou...
K M Ohno, J Jakes, A B Bishell, L Li, Q Jin, E Maxey
Enhancing UV resistance and decay resistance of wood by nanoparticle dispersed linseed oil nanoemulsion
2024 - IRG/WP 24-20706
Enhancing increasing demand for eco-friendly and cost-effective wood coatings and preservatives has led to the development of water-borne formulations and use of non-toxic and natural materials such as vegetable oils and waxes. The aim of this study was to improve the UV resistance and decay resistance of wood by nanomaterial dispersed linseed oil emulsions. Highly stable nanoemulsions of linseed ...
R Bansal, R Kumar, K K Pandey
Studies on the treatability of selected pine species and corresponding efficacies of a new non-biocidal treatment
2024 - IRG/WP 24-20721
Wood decay caused by fungi may reduce the service life of wood in outdoor applications. Since moisture conditions in wood occur as one of the most crucial parameters for fungal decay, chemical modifications, which affect the latter, may increase the resistance of wood against such organisms. Usually, pine sapwood is easier to chemically treat than heartwood, as the former generally shows good perm...
T R da Silva Lins, L Emmerich, H Militz, P H Gonzales de Cademartoni, R J Klizke, M Pereira da Rocha
Influence of the substitution of phenol with lignin cleavage products in phenol-formaldehyde impregnation resins for wood modification on the fungal decay resistance and impregnation depth
2024 - IRG/WP 24-30805
The impregnation modification of wood with phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resins increases the woods dimensional stability and resistance against fungal decay. However, to decrease the usage of non-renewable resources, the substitution of phenol has been a topic of scientific interest. Lignin is a currently underutilized resource with a chemical structure that contains phenolic units. For adhesive appli...
J Karthäuser, L Tarentino, A Treu, H Militz, G Alfredsen
Evaluation of the water exclusion ability and inherent bioactivity of heartwood against decay in Japanese and European wood species via above-ground exposure and water absorption tests
2024 - IRG/WP 24-40998
The natural durability of wood has been thought to mainly depend on bioactive extractives and the water exclusion ability. To clarify the contribution of each factor to wood durability, above-ground exposure tests were conducted on Japanese and European wood species. A double-layer test was carried out using heartwood specimens of four wood species, i.e., Japanese cedar, Japanese cypress, Scots pi...
T Osawa, R Noda, K Yamamoto
How personality traits influence the perception of fungal decay in a wooden cladding – A survey in three Modelling wood moisture content in outdoor conditions from measured data
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41002
This study examined perceptions of fungal decay damage on wooden cladding across Norway, Sweden, and Germany. The majority of respondents across all countries did not find the fungal decay damage in question acceptable, with the least acceptance in Norway. This could be due to Norway having the highest frequency of wooden residential buildings and the most experience with maintaining wooden claddi...
G W Gustavsen, G Alfredsen, P B van Niekerk, J Niklewski, C Brischke
Modelling the service life of wood in ground contact – Verification of remotely sensed soil data from the reanalysis dataset ERA5-Land using in-situ measurements at a test site of utility poles in Eastern Norway
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41003
This study compared soil moisture and temperature estimates from the 5th European reanalysis (ERA5-Land) dataset with in-situ measurements to assess the accuracy and applicability of ERA5-Land data for modelling the service life of wood in ground contact. The ERA5-Land soil temperature estimates showed a moderate correlation with the in-situ temperature measurements (Spearman’s ρ of 0.73) and a...
U Hundhausen, P B van Niekerk, B Marais
Modelling wood moisture content in outdoor conditions from measured data
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41005
Sustainable use of wood requires an understanding of expected service life, particularly when the material is exposed to outdoor conditions and, thus, fungal decay. Since moisture is the primary vector for fungal decay, accurate moisture prediction is a key component in service life assessment. For this purpose, the present study leverages existing measured data for linear regression of in-field m...
J Niklewski, P B van Niekerk, L Meyer-Veltrup, J Sandak, C Brischke
Determining the minimum water vapor permeability of exterior wood coatings by means of hygrothermal and decay models
2024 - IRG/WP 24-20717
The objective of this study was to determine the minimum water vapor permeability of exterior wood coatings for log homes using hygrothermal and decay modeling. The approach is based on a worst-case scenario assumption, namely a moisture trap at a given wood moisture content in a coated wall log. The minimum limit of vapor permeability of the coating system was determined by simulating the time re...
U Hundhausen, S Ullah, D Kraniotis
The durability and mechanical properties of 40 years old Black locust poles
2024 - IRG/WP 24-11042
This study investigates the durability and mechanical properties of 40-year-old black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) poles harvested from a vineyard in Slovenia. Wood from these poles was compared to recently harvested black locust wood to determine possible reuse options. Visual inspection, hyperspectral imaging, and laboratory tests were conducted to assess decay, density, mechanical properties, ...
M Humar, J Malik, J Levanic, D Krzisnik, E Kerzic, B Lesar
Towards eco-friendly fire retardant of wood - exploring fungal biomineralization
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11052
Timber is a strong, durable, aesthetically pleasing and sustainable building material but its combustibility represents a safety threat. Commonly used fire and flame retardants are often environmentally unfriendly, while safety cladding is labour intensive and covers the wood, decreasing the aesthetic appeal of the building. Mineralisation of wood with calcium carbonate has been shown to be a prom...
K Butina Ogorelec, A Gubenšek, A Sandak
Neglected Contribution of Herman Schacht on Soft Rot in 1863 Revisit to “wet rot” and “crystalloid holes in spiral directions
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11054
The term “soft rot”, characterising a specific type of wood decay, was established in the mid-20th Century by John Savory (1954). This decay involves cylindrical cavities formed by Ascomycetes and Fungi Imperfecti within secondary cell walls of wood, aligned with cellulose microfibrils. However, similar features were described already 160 years ago by the German plant anatomist Hermann Schacht...
Y-S Kim, K Yamamoto
Xerophilic mould fungi on new and historic wood
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11056
An examination of mould fungi in 35 medieval and ten 18th Century buildings shows mould growth to varying degrees on different surfaces. The analyses also show a rapid development of mould fungi on certain wooden surfaces in recent years.
A significant difference in the growth between new and old wood is the clearly more extensive growth and different species composition of mould fungi on new wo...
J Mattsson, M S Austigard
Entomopathogenic organisms: Host-pathogen interactions
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11059
The management strategy of wood attacked by wood-eating insects has been until now by the application of insecticidal products used as biocides and/or repellents, or using physical treatments. This paper describes the use of entomopathogenic organisms (viruses, bacteria, fungi and nematodes), normally used in agricultural systems, in order to study their possible transfer to wood-decay insects.
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M T Troya, S Santos, L Robertson
Multifactorial analysis of the reasons behind wood natural durability
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11065
Physical, chemical and biological properties of several wood species were investigated in order to highlight the main factors involved in wood natural durability and wood characteristic using a principal component analysis. Interaction of wood with water were evaluated using contact angle measurements to determinate wood wettability by water and wood impregnability tests with water allowing to cal...
L-F E Nkogo, M S M Mouendou, S Dumarçay, P E Engonga, F Zannini, E Gelhaye, P Gérardin
Evaluation of decay detection drill data – a semi-quantitative approach
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11067
Decay detection drilling and pick testing are common methods for evaluating decay in structural timber. In this study 63 poles in snow fence trusses at Finse in Norway, where climate change is expected to increase decay hazard, were evaluated by both drilling and pick testing. The aim of this study was to 1: assess a novel method to translate qualitative evaluation of drilling data into quantitati...
M S Austigard, J Mattsson, G Alfredsen, L Ross, N Bjerregaard Pedersen
Physiological characterization of a key enzyme involved in gaseous COS assimilation in the filamentous fungus Trichoderma harzianum
2025 - IRG/WP 25-11072
Filamentous fungi are among the primary organisms responsible for the biological deterioration of wood, including wood decay and surface contamination. Therefore, understanding their physiological mechanisms is important for developing effective wood preservation strategies. Most physiological studies on filamentous fungi have focused on the metabolism of major elements, such as carbon in the form...
R Iizuka, A Ono, T Suzuki, Y Katayama, M Yoshida