Research on wood and natural fiber-plasticcomposites has spanned several decades. However, there was relatively little market activity in the United States outside of the automotive industry prior to the last 5 years. Recently, however, the U.S. wood-plasticcomposites industry has grown tremendously. Although its total marketsize is small relativetothe traditional wood composites industry, the ...

In recent years, regulatory and public attention has become focused on the potential risks associated with exposure to chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood – the most widely used wood treatment product in the United States. CCA has been used to treat lumber for over 60 years (1), mainly because of the extended lifetime of CCA-treated wood as compared to untreated wood (2-5) and the high...

Robert B. Stone† Basic Engineering Department University of Missouri-Rolla Rolla, MO 65409-0210 [email protected] Kristin L. Wood Department of Mechanical Engineering The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX 78712 [email protected] Richard H. Crawford Department of Mechanical Engineering The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX 78712 [email protected] PRODUCT ARCHITECTURE DEVELOPMENT ...

Pneumonitis due to hypersensitivity to wood fiber is mainly associated with the fungus that colonizes it. We present the case of a male affected with hypersensitivity pneumonitis in which the agent implicated was medium-density fiberboard, an engineered product whose main component is pine wood fiber. The causal agent was identified by means of a specific bronchial provocation test.

In wood trade, the supplier is the forest and the product is round wood. The quality, the quantity and value of wood depend heavily on the practices that are applied in the early stages of the supply chain. Current methods of the the productive capacity of forests, the annual consumption of wood and wood products, both from natural and technical forests and also from imports are presented. The ...

As wood is prone to fungal degradation, fundamental research is necessary to increase our knowledge aiming at product improvement. Several imaging modalities are capable of visualizing fungi, but the X-ray equipment presented in this article can envisage fungal mycelium in wood nondestructively in three dimensions with submicron resolution. Four types of wood subjected to the action of the whit...

grounds because of “disturbing” levels of arsenic in the soil beneath play structures made from pressure-treated wood. Connecticut is warning children not to play under them, and Minnesota has considered banning the wood. In Ottawa, the chief medical officer says playground soil should be tested for contamination. The culprit? Arsenic that leaches from pressure-treated wood into soil (see page ...

A novel wood-based composite has been developed for use in structural applications. The process was designed to utilize rapidly-grown, low density, wood species. Plantation grown radiata pine is particularly well suited to this process. This is a laminated composite, where the lamina may be comprised of various materials, some of which have been treated with the viscoelastic thermal compression...