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Effects of climatic factors and material properties on mould growth on untreated wooden claddings
2017 - IRG/WP 17-10884
Mould growth is an important contributor to colour change of untreated wood exposed outdoors. Predicting the development of mould growth is therefore important to ensure successful use of untreated wood as a façade material. More knowledge about the factors affecting mould growth on outdoor exposed wood is required to give better predictions. In this study, climatic factors and material propertie...
S Karlsen Lie, G I Vestøl, O Høibø, L Ross Gobakken


Plasma-assisted bleaching of blue-stain from lodgepole pine wood
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40799
We hypothesize that plasma will etch wood and fungal hyphae in blue-stained lodgepole pine, and increase the ability of hypochlorite bleach to remove discolouration from blue-stained wood. Blue-stained lodgepole pine wood was exposed to a glow-discharge plasma derived from water, and the surface wettability, permeability and colour of the treated wood was measured. Plasma-treated wood was dipped i...
A Jamali, P D Evans


Influence of hygro-thermal treatment temperature and duration on dimensional stabilisation of wood modified with poly(butylene succinate)
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40813
To improve wood properties, especially dimensional stability, a treatment based on poly(butylene succinate) oligomers (OBS) was experimented. After impregnation in wood, a further hygro-thermal treatment (HTT) was carried out in a pressurized reactor at 100% relative humidity (RH) at differing temperatures for differing durations. The aim of HTT is to induce partial swelling of wood cell walls so ...
C Grosse, M Noël, L Rautkari, P Gérardin


Impact of temperature and relative humidity on spatio-temporal fungal growth dynamics of Basidiomycetes
2018 - IRG/WP 18-10905
Basidiomycetes can cause considerable damage to wood and other bio-based building materials. Knowing at which environmental conditions these decay fungi generally thrive, and how the environmental conditions affect fungal growth characteristics, is therefore of particular interest. In this paper, we use image analysis to assess the impact of the environmental conditions on the growth dynamics of C...
L De Ligne, G Vidal-Diez de Ulzurrun, J Van den Bulcke, J M Baetens, B De Baets, J Van Acker


Recent findings clarifying the mechanism of brown-rot decay protection in acetylated wood
2018 - IRG/WP 18-40827
This paper summarizes the findings obtained during my PhD research over the past three years. The results provide insights which help to understand the enhanced brown-rot decay resistance of acetylated wood with particular emphasis on the role of water. The protection acetylation provides is derived from moisture exclusion within the acetylated cell wall, but the exact mechanism by which water is ...
G Beck


Monitoring of the building made of CLT in Ljubljana
2019 - IRG/WP 19-40860
Wood is one of the most important construction materials and its use in building applications has further expanded in recent decades, predominately due to development of the modern composites, like cross-laminated timber. In order to enable even more extensive and reliable use of wood in outdoor applications, factors affecting wood’s service life need to be understood. It is well known that fung...
M Humar, D Krzisnik, B Lesar, N Thaler, B Dujic


Promoting Commercially Available Epoxy Resins for Non-biocidal Wood Preservation
2019 - IRG/WP 19-40877
Commercially available epoxy and polyamine resins were evaluated with the aim of developing new non-biocidal wood preservation treatments. A simple method allowing the impregnation of wood by vacuum double impregnation followed by a curing process was developed for two reference species, beech Fagus sylvatica and Scots pine Pinus sylvestris. The tested products were evaluated for their ability to ...
P Poveda, M Mubarok, S Dumarcay, M Montibus, I Le Bayon, M Kutnik, P Gerardin, F Simon


Alternative products enhancing dimensional stability comparing to conventional treated products in Japan
2019 - IRG/WP 19-40885
The Act on the Promotion of the Utilization of Wood in Public Buildings (2010) in Japan has made a new stream of the utilization field of timber from housing constructions to larger scale non-housing constructions. After the act, the performance of dimensional stability in preservative treated products becomes more important factor than before. Therefore, various technologies have been developed, ...
K Yamamoto, D Tezuka, Y Sugai, S Maeda, I Momohara


Moisture and temperature conditions in an old, highly moisture-loaded timber building in the Røros municipality, Norway
2020 - IRG/WP 20-10966
A 150 years old log building near Røros, Norway, has been in active use as a cowshed since its erection. The animals are kept inside the cowshed all winter and this causes a situation of a high moisture load on the wooden floor, wooden walls and ceiling. Logging of temperature and humidity over one year shows that there are favourable levels of moisture in the wood and air for development of moul...
M Sand Austigard, J Mattsson


Water interactions in wood polyesterified with sorbitol and citric acid
2020 - IRG/WP 20-40888
Polyesterifcation of wood with sorbitol and citric acid seems to be a promising chemical wood modification technique that is both low-cost and produced from bio-based chemicals. An interesting aspect of the modification is the interaction of water with the polyesterified wood since the relationship with moisture appears to be unique compared to other wood modification systems. This communication p...
G Beck, A Treu, E Larnøy


Performance of a water-borne stain on beech, spruce, MDF and OSB improved by plasma pre-treatment
2020 - IRG/WP 20-40897
Coatings are an important part of wood protection, especially for outdoor applications. In order to provide a good protection, protective coatings need to exhibit good adhesion, mechanical resistance, and weathering resistance. Plasma pre-treatments are an established method to increase the performance of existing coatings including those on wood and wood-based substrates. Moreover, plasma deposit...
S Dahle, J Žigon, I Uranjek, M Petrič


PlasmaSolution – Curing of coating formulations using non-thermal plasmas
2020 - IRG/WP 20-40904
Coatings are an important part of wood protection, especially for outdoor applications. In order to provide a good protection, protective coatings need to exhibit good adhesion, mechanical resistance, and weathering resistance. Plasma pre-treatments are an established method to increase the performance of existing coatings including those on wood and wood-based substrates. Moreover, plasma deposit...
S Dahle, J Žigon, M Petrič


Hydrophilization of wood using a FE-DBD air plasma
2020 - IRG/WP 20-40907
One of the goals of surface protection of wood with coatings is to prevent the evolution of moisture in wood, which accelerates its degradation by abiotic and biotic factors. Good wettability of wood is a necessary pre-condition for sufficient protection with water-based coatings. Treatment of wood surface with atmospheric dielectric barrier discharge in configuration with a floating electrode was...
J Žigon, M Petrič, S Dahle


Enhancing the durability of low durability Eucalyptus plantation species: a review of strategies
2020 - IRG/WP 20-40910
Eucalyptus species native to Australia have shown excellent growth rates, good physical properties and resistance to diseases. As a result, they are widely planted globally for a variety of uses. One negative aspect of many of these faster growing species is that they have a high percentage of low durability heartwood that resists preservative treatment. In Australia, large plantations of these sp...
K C Wood, J J Morrell, W Leggate


Plasma treatment of wood - a review of 15 years of research in Göttingen
2021 - IRG/WP 21-40913
Wood is an important renewable resource and can be found omnipresent in everyday life. Its natural properties offer numerous advantages regarding physical, mechanical but also aesthetic aspects, but also challenges that one has to address with various modification methods. Driven by the desire to promote the use of promising new technologies using plasmas, there has been a close research network ...
P Sauerbier, R Köhler, G Avramidis, W Viöl, H Militz


Impregnation of wood with antifungal compounds from low-quality tree biomass
2022 - IRG/WP 22-30763
In this paper we have reviewed recent research on the development of bio-based preservative formulations for wood done at the Department of wood science and technology, Ljubljana. Preservative formulations used in this investigation were prepared using plant polyphenols as biocidal agents. These nonstructural components of wood were stilbenes and flavonoids, and were extracted from wood of broken ...
V Vek, I Poljanšek, A Balzano, M Humar, P Oven


Premature adhesion failure of exterior wood coatings – The influence of substrate temperature at coating application and moisture accumulation during storage
2022 - IRG/WP 22-40937
The present study aimed at extending the knowledge about premature coating failures of industrially finished wood cladding. Two potential factors were studied: the influence of substrate temperature at coating application and moisture accumulation during storage on the adhesion of waterborne coating systems. In the first experiment, 4 batches of wood specimens were submitted to 4 different tempera...
U Hundhausen


Establishing the minimum effective penetration of wood preservatives in the refractory heartwood of E. nitens
2023 - IRG/WP 23-30780
Conventional pressure treatment of many Australian hardwoods results in little to no penetration of heartwood and a non-uniform envelope treatment of <5 mm surrounding a mostly untreated core. This is a major issue for many of the low durability plantation hardwood timbers that are grown in Tasmania, which contain high percentages of heartwood. Long term studies on softwoods such as spruce decking...
J R Vargas, J J Morrell, L Yermán, K C Wood


Resistance of phenol formaldehyde impregnated beech (Fagus sylvativa L.) LVL against biodegradation in soil contact
2023 - IRG/WP 23-40965
Alternatives to preservative impregnation are emphasized in Germany and other European countries. Even though these treatments significantly improve wood's resistance to decay, they often do not have a beneficial impact on the dimensional stability. One alternative product, which may be used in ground contact for items like poles and railway sleepers, could be beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) laminated ...
M Slabohm, C Brischke, S Bicke, H Militz


Through-boring to improve the performance of low durability Eucalyptus species for utility poles: 10-year field test results of pole stubs exposed in Southeast Queensland
2023 - IRG/WP 23-40972
An impending shortage of naturally durable hardwood electricity pole timbers in Australia has encouraged investigation of alternatives containing less durable, untreatable heartwood. Through-boring or drilling holes perpendicular to the long axis before treatment, has been used successfully on refractory softwood poles in North America and might have application in Australia. The use of through-bo...
J Norton, L P Francis, J J Morrell


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


Service life of poplar, a low durability hardwood
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41007
Hybrid poplar is the most common plantation hardwood of the temperate climate zone and is complementary to natural stands of aspen with mainly plantations in Europe and China. Poplar wood has been considered as a valid alternative for many of the construction applications of softwoods especially when considering engineered wood products. The natural durability of hybrid poplar is low and for a ra...
J Van Acker, X Jiang, L De Ligne, J van den Bulcke


Hot and cold treatment with ACQ
2025 - IRG/WP 25-20747
Wood deterioration poses a significant challenge in tropical and sub-tropical developing countries, leading to premature structural failure and economic losses. While preservative treatment offers a solution, the high cost of commercial vacuum pressure systems often hinders its widespread adoption. Lower-technology alternatives, like the hot and cold bath method, present a more affordable option f...
J Norton


The non-energy utilization of low-quality wood from the invasive species Prunus serotina
2025 - IRG/WP 25-30814
Alien invasive species in Europe, such as Prunus serotina, can significantly impact ecosystem structure and function. This species provides low-quality timber, which is most often used for energy purposes in the form of biomass. In the era of policies focused on a circular economy, seeking methods to extend the life cycle of raw materials and wood products is necessary. For this purpose, the wood ...
W Perdoch, P Kołwzan


Enhanced Termite Resistance of Low Durability Fast Growing Teak Wood by Non-Biocide Treatments Based on Chemical and Thermal Modification
2025 - IRG/WP 25-30818
Short rotation teak as a fast-growing tree can be considered as a renewable material resource for the future green economy. However, short rotation teak wood is susceptible to biodeterioration, particularly to termite attack. The objective of this work was to investigate the effect of chemical and thermal treatment on resistance of sapwood, transition wood, and heartwood of short rotation teak aga...
R Martha, K Candelier, M-F Thévenon, B George, I S Rahayu, W Darmawan, P Gérardin


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