The overall goal of this study was to evaluate an alternative to
traditional wood framed shear wall construction. This study introduced the
innovative idea of using a water and seismic damage resistant, wood-concrete-
composite (WCC) construction instead of an all-wood design. The
WCC design consisted of a thin shell of...
The production of cement and concrete results in the production of large amounts of CO₂ emissions which can have significant negative environmental impacts. Using supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) as a cement replacement is an effective solution to reduce these negative environmental impacts, as most SCMs are waste by-products from other...
Most of existing commercial unsaturated polyester (UPE) resins are typically composed of a UPE and a high amount of highly volatile, flammable, and toxic styrene. The emission of hazardous styrene in the handling of the UPE resins and the preparation and use of fiber-reinforced UPE composites poses severe hazards to...
The development of a market for currently non-merchantable forest material, such as harvest residues of tops and limbs of trees or small diameter trees, has been suggested as a possible win-win solution that could: (i) provide a financial incentive to help motivate treatments to reduce wildfire risk or restore forest...
Concerns over the possibility of exotic pest
introductions from eastern Russia to the West Coast of the United States due to proposed log imports raises the question of the effectiveness of possible mitigation measures. Toxicity of methyl bromide to representative pathogenic fungi was tested by exposing Armillaria ostoyae, Heterobasidion annosum,...
Ultrasonic wave attenuation and velocity in the transverse direction were used to detect defects in ponderosa pine (Pinus Ponderosa) lumber previously dried from green to 9% moisture content. After ultrasonic testing the boards were visually inspected for defects and classified according to the defects present. An ANOVA with Bonferroni pairwise...
The effects of incorporation of selected biocides on physical and mechanical properties of aspen strandboard were assessed using five copper-based preservatives or zinc borate at three retention levels. Tebuconazole or 4,5-dichloro-2-N-octyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one (DCOI) were added as co-biocides to selective copper-based treatments. Mold box tests showed that only panels treated with DCOI...
Formaldehyde-based adhesives such as urea-formaldehyde (UF) and phenol-formaldehyde (PF) adhesives dominate the current wood adhesive market. However, these adhesives are derived from petrochemicals and carcinogenic formaldehyde. In this study, we developed two formaldehyde-free adhesives based on abundant, renewable, and inexpensive soy flour (SF).
The first adhesive was mainly composed of...