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Examination of power poles by computerized tomography
1980 - IRG/WP 2142
The technique known as computed axial tomography (CAT or CT) has become widely known because of the success it has achieved in medical imaging and diagnostics. It has now been used to give non-destructive crosssectional pictures of a variety of industrial objects, including wooden power poles, with a spatial resolution of about 1 mm (0.04 in.). It is obvious the benefits that would be derived from...
J A Taylor, I L Morgan, H Ellinger


Detection of termite attack in wood using acoustic emission
1989 - IRG/WP 2331
Acoustic emission (AE) is the elastic wave produced by the strain energy released in the process of fracture of a material and propagates through it. The object of this report is to detect AEs produced by the termite activities and to evaluate the possibility of using an AE monitoring test to nondestructively detect the termite attack in wood. It was revealed that AEs were detected from the specim...
Y Fujii, M Noguchi, Y Imamura, M Tokoro


New research data confirming the suitability of bifenthrin as a wood preservative
1996 - IRG/WP 96-30116
Bifenthrin has been further tested against wood destroying insects, and its behaviour in wood has been extensively studied. Bifenthrin proved to be highly effective as a curative and preventative treatment against Anobium punctatum and Hylotrupes bajulus, after both leaching and evaporative ageing. Results of penetration tests with water and solvent based formulations, applied by brushing, dipping...
S Shires, P Héloir, B Chen, G Rustenburg


Micro- and hydro-sandblasting for wood and wood coatings
2007 - IRG/WP 07-40380
Exterior wood coatings are getting increasingly durable and often more film forming. As a result they become difficult to renovate. Conventional renovation techniques (chemical or thermal stripping, sanding) are demanding techniques which take a long time to implement. Therefore renovation techniques are requested which are easier to use and which ensure that the wood surface is suitable for a re-...
L Podgorski, V Georges, P Svane


Micro-Distribution of Metals in Wood Treated with a Nano-Copper Wood Preservative
2007 - IRG/WP 07-40360
The microdistribution of copper in southern pine treated with a newly-developed nano-copper wood preservative was examined to determine if it differed from that reported for wood treated with conventional copper-based wood preservatives. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) in combination with x-ray microanalysis (EDX) revealed the presence of nano-sized copper and iron particles i...
H Matsunaga, M Kiguchi, P Evans


The efficacy of commercial silicones against blue stain and mould fungi in wood
2008 - IRG/WP 08-30471
Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) wood samples were vacuum pressure impregnated with quatsilicone micro emulsion (<40 nm particle size), aminosilicone macro emulsion (110 nm) and silicone macro emulsion with alkyl modified side groups (740 nm) and the resulting material properties were studied. Quatsilicone micro emulsion resulted in maximum bulking (4.8%) and anti-swelling efficiency (21.8%) in...
S C Ghosh, C Mai, H Militz


Micro-Distribution of Micronized Copper in Southern Pine
2008 - IRG/WP 08-30479
For copper-based preservatives to be used in ground contact, penetration of copper into the cell wall is believed to be important to protect the wood from soft rot fungi. Preservatives containing soluble copper are known to do this. It is not known whether preservatives containing particulate copper will also migrate into the cell wall in sufficient quantities to control soft rot decay. An AWPA st...
R Stirling, J Drummond, Jun Zhang, R J Ziobro


Re-Distribution of Copper in the Cell Walls of Wood Treated with Micronized Copper Quat
2009 - IRG/WP 09-30506
Wood treated with copper-based preservatives to be used in ground contact may fail to inhibit soft rot fungi if penetration of copper into the cell wall is insufficient. Preservatives containing soluble copper are known to penetrate the cell wall; however, it is not known whether preservatives containing particulate copper will also migrate into the cell wall in sufficient quantities to control so...
R Stirling, J Drummond


Protection mechanisms of modified wood against decay by white and brown rot fungi
2010 - IRG/WP 10-10713
The resistance of beech and pine wood blocks treated with 1,3-dimethylol-4,5-dihydroxyethylene urea (DMDHEU) against T. versicolor and C. puteana increased with increasing WPG. Full protection (mass loss below 3%) was reached at WPGs of approximately 15% (beech) and 10% (pine). Metabolic activity of the fungi in the wood blocks was assessed as heat or energy production determined by isothermal mic...
C Mai, P Verma, Yanjun Xie, J Dyckmans, H Militz


The Use of Micro-Tensile Testing to Assess Weathering Decay and Oxidative Degradation of Wooden Items
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20433
This paper presents a method to study the weathering performance of wooden items and to assess the oxidative degradation of wood via the Fenton reaction. Weathering resistance and photo-stability of wood was tested using pine wood (Pinus sylvestris) veneer strips measuring approximately 60 µm in thickness. The veneer strips were treated using a reactive chemical to impart surface protection. The ...
C Mai, Yanjun Xie, Zefang Xiao, P D Evans, H Militz


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


Use of Variable Pressure Scanning Electron Microscopy for in situ Observation of Degradation of Wood Surfaces during Artificial Weathering
2012 - IRG/WP 12-20489
Variable pressure scanning electron microscopy (VPSEM) is capable of observing electrically non-conductive materials like wood without the need to render the surface conductive by applying a coating of gold, platinum or carbon. Hence, there is the possibility that VPSEM could be used to non-destructively follow the structural changes occurring at wood surfaces during weathering, because specimens ...
F Hatae, Y Kataoka, M Kiguchi, H Matsunaga, J Matsumura


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


Analysis of decay progress anisotropy by X-ray computer tomography
2012 - IRG/WP 12-20501
Wood has a serious handicap as structural materials that it is vulnerable to decay by fungi. A weather exposed bridge has a possibility of an abrupt fall down, and wooden houses with heavily decayed structural members are easily destroyed by large earthquakes. To avoid such damages, a new predicting method on the decay progress in timber structures, and also its strength losing behavior along with...
K Maeda, M Ohta


Observation of Boring Process of Larvae of the Bamboo Powder-post Beetle (Dinoderus minutus)
2014 - IRG/WP 14-10821
The bamboo powder-post beetle Dinoderus minutus is a major pest of felled bamboo in Japan. X-ray computer tomography (CT) was applied to non-destructively trace the movement of the larvae of this beetle inside the infested bamboo samples. The bamboo samples were prepared from pieces of the Japanese timber bamboo Phyllostachys bambusoides culms that were enclosed with adult D. minutus beetles for a...
H Watanabe, Y Yanase, Y Fujii


Resistance of heat treated Ash wood under steam pressure: rot fungi, soil micro-organisms and termites
2016 - IRG/WP 16-40724
Thermal modification processes have been developed to increase the biological durability and dimensional stability of wood. The aim of this paper was to study the influence of ThermoWood® treatment intensity on wood decay resistance improvement against soil-inhabiting micro-organisms, brown/white rots and termite’s exposures. All of the tests were carried out in the laboratory with two differen...
K Candelier, S Hannouz, M-F Thévenon, D Guibal, P Gérardin, M Pétrissans, R Collet


Visualization of Feeding Process of Larvae of the Wood-boring Beetles Using X-ray Computer Tomography
2019 - IRG/WP 19-10953
X-ray computer tomography (CT) was applied to observe the movement of the larvae of the wood-boring beetles Lyctus brunneus, Lyctus africanus, and Heterobostrychus aequalis inside the infested wood specimens. The larvae bred with artificial diet were inserted into the hole of wood specimens of rubber wood Hevea spp. or Japanese oak Quercus crispula. The wood specimens with larvae were scanned usin...
Y Yanase, H Watanabe, I Fujimoto, T Yoshimura, Y Fujii


Using X-ray micro-CT to evaluate density loss in anobiid infested wood
2019 - IRG/WP 19-10956
Considering the relevance of wood borers in construction, the present study had as main objective the evaluation of the impact of anobiid damage on timber elements by establishing an empirical correlation between lost material percentage (LM%, consumed by beetles) and apparent density (original – OTD and residual – RTD). Since the beetles’ attack produces a diffuse damage with a set of tunne...
J L Parracha, M F Pereira, A Maurício, P Faria, L Nunes


Exploring the use of X-ray micro CT as a tool for the monitoring of moisture production and mass loss during lab-based fungal degradation testing
2019 - IRG/WP 19-20654
Bio-based building materials, such as wood and wood-engineered products, are susceptible to degradation by decay fungi. In-depth knowledge on the intricate material-fungus relationship as well as performance data for many bio-based building materials are still lacking, and especially knowledge on how a material’s structure and moisture properties affect the degradation process is missing. Althou...
L De Ligne, J Van den Bulcke, A De Muynck, J M Baetens, B De Baets, L Van Hoorebeke, J Van Acker


Accumulation of copper in parenchyma cells in southern pine wood treated with micronized and amine-copper preservatives
2019 - IRG/WP 19-20657
Our previous research used X-ray micro-computed tomography to examine the micro-distribution of copper in southern pine wood treated with a micronized wood preservative (MCA) and an amine-copper preservative (ACQ). We found that copper in wood treated with MCA was mainly concentrated in fusiform rays (rays containing resin canals), and in vertical (axial) resin canals. A similar, although not iden...
D Feng, M L Turner, A Limaye, M A Knackstedt, P D Evans


Antifouling wood matrix with natural water transfer and micro reaction channels for water treatment
2019 - IRG/WP 19-40853
Wood with abundant nutrition transport channels could be considered as a kind of natural water purifier due to quick and effective passages for separation. Nevertheless, microporosity as main porous structure of initial wood are not enough to effectively separate small molecular, such as organic dye pollutants. Meanwhile, like most filters the fouling resulting in blocking and poor water flux will...
G Liu, D Xu, S Chang, J Hu, Xianjun Li5, Y Liu


Treatability of native and exotic alternative timber species
2019 - IRG/WP 19-40864
The service life of moderately durable species can be extended significantly if the challenge of effective treatment of refractory wood species can be overcome. Along with preservative effectiveness, the performance of preservative in treated wood depends on factors such as retention and penetration in treated wood, the wood anatomy, the uniformity of penetration and micro-distribution within the ...
D Page, T Singh


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


Towards a microactuator-sensing network for the structural health monitoring of wood
2023 - IRG/WP 23-50380
Timber structures decay over time with degradation in their structural integrity. Changing environmental conditions, varying loads, exposure to moisture or insect attacks lead to changes in their vibrational response behaviour. Here we present a low-cost device used as a triggered exciter to enable the monitoring of the structural integrity of timber bearers or even power poles in electricity netw...
S Oberst, S Sepehrirahnama, C Nerse, Z Brodzeli, J C S Lai, M Mankowski, T Atkinson, R Arango, G Kirker, T Evans


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