Wood Production Stabilisation and Functionalization

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Wood Science and Forest Products".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2022) | Viewed by 12007

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Scion, Te Papa Tipu Innovation Park, Tītokorangi Drive (formerly Long Mile Rd), Rotorua 3010, New Zealand
Interests: wood physics; wood processing; chemical and bioprocess engineering

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Guest Editor
Wood Industrial Engineering, Federal University of Pelotas, Rua Conde de Porto Alegre 793, Pelotas, RS 96010-290, Brazil
Interests: water-wood relations and drying; wood treatment; forest protection

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There has not been a better time than today to replace non-renewable materials with solid wood and wood-based products. The sustainability credentials of wood make it the material of choice for building the renewable economy of the future, and thus, it is up to scientists, innovators, and entrepreneurs to make this vision come true. A main problem that wood must overcome is that it is not as stable and durable as some of the non-sustainable alternatives that wood could potentially replace. Therefore, there is a challenge in terms of making wood more dimensionally stable, resistant to moisture and fire, and durable against weather and mould, while at the same time enhancing its natural beauty as exposed material and potentially functionalising its fibres to add new properties that did not exist before. The vision is to create new applications for wood by adding functionalities, as well as to expand current applications by increasing performance. This Special Issue of Forests invites researchers to share ideas and methods on how to stabilise and functionalise wood products and wood-based products for traditional and beyond traditional applications.

Dr. Diego Elustondo
Prof. Dr. Leonardo da Silva Oliveira
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • wood products
  • wood-based products
  • wood stabilisation
  • wood fictionalisation
  • sustainable wood materials
  • wood dimensional stability
  • wood durability
  • wood fire resistance
  • exposed wood materials
  • low-maintenance wood

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 1496 KiB  
Article
A New Approach to Assess the Retained Value of Functionalized and Stabilized Wood Products through Aging
by Diego Elustondo and Douglas Gaunt
Forests 2022, 13(5), 643; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13050643 - 21 Apr 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1677
Abstract
Wood stabilization and functionalization is a hot topic towards increasing the use of wood in buildings. Building construction and materials account for around 11% of the global CO2 emissions, thus there is increasing interest in using wood to replace concrete, steel, and [...] Read more.
Wood stabilization and functionalization is a hot topic towards increasing the use of wood in buildings. Building construction and materials account for around 11% of the global CO2 emissions, thus there is increasing interest in using wood to replace concrete, steel, and aluminium. However, the perceived quality of wood in service decreases quickly in comparison with non-biodegradable alternatives, so aging must be delayed as much as possible through stabilization and functionalization. The question addressed in this paper is how to measure the perceived quality of wood products in service. The concept of wood quality is difficult to define, as it depends on a combination of factors such as customer satisfaction, wood fibre characteristics, products, applications, and so on. This paper proposes a definition of timber quality based on market price. By knowing the market value of a potential range of wood products, the proposed method calculates the loss of value due to developing defects caused by aging. Overall, the proposed methodology allows converting the subjective concept of aging into an objective $ value. A numeric example is presented based on the New Zealand timber grading rules. The results showed that 5.1 m by 150 mm by 50 mm softwood timber can lose up to 61% of its value as appearance grade if a single aging defect develops beyond the maximum allowed size. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Production Stabilisation and Functionalization)
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19 pages, 2064 KiB  
Article
Evaluating Dimensional Stability in Modified Wood: An Experimental Comparison of Test Methods
by Rosie Sargent
Forests 2022, 13(4), 613; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13040613 - 14 Apr 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3402
Abstract
Dimensional stability is a commonly targeted property for improvement through wood modification. Here four different tests have been performed on three types of modified wood to compare methods of measuring dimensional stability behavior. These tests cover long and short time periods, as well [...] Read more.
Dimensional stability is a commonly targeted property for improvement through wood modification. Here four different tests have been performed on three types of modified wood to compare methods of measuring dimensional stability behavior. These tests cover long and short time periods, as well as dimensional changes caused by contact with liquid water, or from changes in air humidity. All the tests showed increased dimensional stability of the modified samples relative to the unmodified controls; however, the relative behavior of the different modifications varied between tests. Soaking in water until maximum swelling showed no differences between thermally modified and furfurylated samples, but a subsequent test showed large differences in the rate of swelling for each wood type, with the furfurylated samples swelling very slowly. Long-term swelling in humid air showed similar results to soaking in water, but with the thermally modified samples having significantly greater dimensional stability than the furfurylated samples. Swelling for a short period in humid air showed no difference in swelling between the modified wood types, but there was a threefold reduction in swelling compared to the unmodified controls. For a more complete understanding of dimensional stability, several tests employing different test conditions should be used. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Production Stabilisation and Functionalization)
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17 pages, 12379 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Different Measurement Methods/Techniques in Predicting Modulus of Elasticity of Plantation Eucalyptus nitens Timber for Structural Purposes
by Azin Ettelaei, Assaad Taoum and Gregory Nolan
Forests 2022, 13(4), 607; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13040607 - 13 Apr 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2990
Abstract
The mechanical properties of plantation Eucalyptus Nitens timber are currently assessed by applying visual stress grading (VSG) designed for the sawn timber from the mature plantation and do not represent the actual characteristics of the resource. However, the well-known limitation of VSG application [...] Read more.
The mechanical properties of plantation Eucalyptus Nitens timber are currently assessed by applying visual stress grading (VSG) designed for the sawn timber from the mature plantation and do not represent the actual characteristics of the resource. However, the well-known limitation of VSG application for this resource led to the discovery of other methods to grade the timber to its relevant structural grade. There is potential for hardwood plantations in Australia to supply wood to the timber industry and be used in structural applications. However, it is necessary to employ criteria to evaluate the structural properties of this resource before it could be satisfactorily used for structural purposes. This research aimed to assess the use of non-destructive technique (NDT) through acoustic wave velocity (AWV), machine stress grading (MSG), and multiple linear regression (MLR) model to predict the modulus of elasticity (MOE) as a grade-determining factor. The results showed that there was a strong correlation (R2 = 0.88) between the dynamic MOE (MOEdyn) and static MOE (MOEs) of the boards, proving the NDT as a reliable method for the MOE estimations of E. nitens timber. The results from the MLR model also showed that the density and AWV are effective parameters and their combination can be practical to estimate the MOE. There was a high correlation between the MOE obtained from MSG and MOE obtained from four-point bending, demonstrating that the MSG method through the flat-wise bending can be a suitable method for fast grading. The results also indicated that the measured MOE in the edgewise direction correlates with both the flatwise and longitudinal directions. The results also showed that the E. nitens timber resource has the potential to be used in structural applications with a wide range of MOE from 7 GPa to 21 GPa. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Production Stabilisation and Functionalization)
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14 pages, 19858 KiB  
Article
Rolling Shear Properties of Cross-Laminated Timber Made from Australian Plantation Eucalyptus nitens under Planar Shear Test
by Azin Ettelaei, Assaad Taoum, Jon Shanks and Gregory Nolan
Forests 2022, 13(1), 84; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13010084 - 7 Jan 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2964
Abstract
With the increasing availability of fast-growing Eucalyptus plantation logs in Australia in recent years, the timber manufacturing sector has become interested in discovering the opportunities of producing value-added timber products from this resource. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) could be a potential sustainable product recovered [...] Read more.
With the increasing availability of fast-growing Eucalyptus plantation logs in Australia in recent years, the timber manufacturing sector has become interested in discovering the opportunities of producing value-added timber products from this resource. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) could be a potential sustainable product recovered from this resource and supply material for commercial buildings. Shear of the inner cross-laminates, known as rolling shear, is one of the governing factors in serviceability and limit state design for this product under out-of-plane loading. This study evaluated the rolling shear (RS) properties of CLT with heterogonous layup configurations using different structural grade Eucalyptus nitens (E. nitens) timber under the planar shear test. Based on the results, Gr and τr values were shown to be significantly correlated with the density of the CLT panel. There was also a positive correlation between the RS modulus and MOR of the CLT panel. The specimens with high MOE in the top and bottom layers indicated the highest τr and Fmax values. This indicated that using high-grade boards in the top and bottom lamellae plays an important role in increasing the RS strength, whereas using them in the cross-layer has a positive contribution in increasing shear modulus. The maximum observed RS strength and modulus ranged from 2.8–3.4 MPa and 54.3–67.9 MPa, respectively, exceeding the RS characteristic values of the resource. The results obtained in this study were comparable to those recommended in European standards for softwood CLT, demonstrating the potential use for eucalypt timber boards in CLT production. This paper provides an important insight into supporting the potential engineering applications of CLT panel products fabricated with eucalypt plantation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Production Stabilisation and Functionalization)
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