Accelerated weathering (AW) tests have become a requirement for many wood composite products. This project monitored temperature and moisture content of specimens undergoing AW exposure for the following standards: ASTM D3434 (automatic boil test), CSA O112.9 (boil-dry-freeze), and PS2 (Section 7.17, 6-cycle VPS). Each AW procedure was conducted with three...
The tendency of wood to shrink and swell with changing moisture content remains as one of the most significant challenges to using wood in its many applications. Viscoelastic Thermal Compression (VTC) has been shown to significantly increase the density, strength and stiffness of wood. However, dimensional stability is still a...
As the forest industry moves toward the use of younger trees and production of an increasing number of composite products improving durability has gained importance. Coatings are one of the most widely used methods for improving wood durability because they improve resistance to water penetration, and subsequent shrinking and swelling,...
Western juniper and cinnamon essential oils were combined with ethanol at 2.5, 5, and 10% concentrations by weight and applied to hybrid poplar (Populus trichocarpa x P. deltoids) veneers by vacuum soaking to produce a naturally durable wood veneer with increased mechanical properties for use in structural composites. Half of...
Particleboard is a commodity composite panel made from the residual materials of other wood products manufacturing companies. The industry operates on low profit margins and thus produces high volumes of differing panel grades. Slight inefficiencies over the course of a year can mean a significant loss in profit. Previous calculations...
Hygro-mechanical effect is a general term applied to all phenomena that involves interaction between moisture content and mechanical characteristics of hygroscopic materials by analogy to thermo-mechanical effects. The hygromechanical effects include (but are not limited to) free shrinkage/swelling, effect of moisture on elastic modulus, strength, creep, failure mechanisms, and mechano...
The surgical standard of care to partially restore grasping function after a traumatic spinal cord injury is a reconstructive tendon transfer-surgery that connects all four finger flexors to an expendable wrist extensor. While restorative, this surgery has a fundamental problem; the movement of all four fingers flexors is directly coupled,...
Spraying of liquid adhesive onto wood surfaces has shown to be a highly effective and efficient method of application across many different wood-based composite industries. However, the dynamics of spraying are extremely variable and distribution can be affected by liquid properties (rheology, molecular weight distribution, and temperature), application parameters (disk...
Using plant fibers as a potential renewable material to substitute for glass fibers in fiber-reinforced polymer composites has been growing since the late 1990s. Due to high demand, there has been a shift towards ‘green concept’ material in many applications. Numerous secondary plant fibers have been explored as a source...