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Forests
Special Issues
Novel Insights into the Assessment of Wood Properties
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Novel Insights into the Assessment of Wood Properties

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 (5 June 2023) | Viewed by 6012

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Carlos Martins

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: timber properties; non-destructive characterization; glued laminated timber; timber-concrete composite structures; construction; native species
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Alfredo Dias

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering(ISISE), University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: timber properties; non-destructive characterization; engineered wood products; timber-concrete composite structures; connections; timber design

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The construction and infrastructures sector is responsible for at least 40% of all greenhouse emissions. Within the construction sector, steel and concrete are the most used materials, requiring a huge amount of energy for their production. Climate changes are worldwide phenomena, and a quick response is necessary. As an example, Europe aims to become the first climate-neutral continent in 2050, promoting the use of sustainable strategies/products, for example through the implementation of the New European Bauhaus movement.

The use of engineered wood products, namely, glued laminated timber and cross-laminated timber, has increased significantly in the past decades, and is an efficient way to surpass the challenges of climate changes. However, those climate changes are also becoming more evident within forests through the increase of fast-growing species plantations as well as the interest in using hardwoods for load-bearing components.

The aim of this Special Issue is to promote and disseminate the most recent advances in the field of wood properties for structural applications as sawn wood, and for the production of engineered wood production as a raw material. Moreover, this Special Issue will focus on new advances in grading timber based on the use of non-destructive methodologies and/or experimental characterization, as well as the definition of mechanical properties from underutilized and emerging species as a way to increase the range of species suitable for engineered wood products.

We encourage you to send manuscripts containing scientific findings in the field of innovative methods of grading timber, experimental and/or numerical modelling, and review papers. The characterization of fast-growing species, hardwoods with potential for products with high structural performance and new achievements of commonly used softwoods are welcome.

Dr. Carlos Martins
Dr. Alfredo Dias
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • wood properties
  • non-destructive methodologies
  • experimental characterization
  • numerical modelling
  • fast-growing species
  • timber structures
  • engineered wood products

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2185 KiB  
Article
Machine Grading of High-Density Hardwoods (Southern Blue Gum) from Tensile Testing
by Carlos Martins, Gonzalo Moltini, Alfredo M. P. G. Dias and Vanesa Baño
Forests 2023, 14(8), 1623; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14081623 - 11 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 747
Abstract
Hardwoods commonly have high mechanical properties, which makes them interesting for structural use, but softwoods dominate the structural timber market in Europe. Tensile strength classes are recommended for engineered wood products. However, current European standards do not provide tensile strength classes for hardwoods [...] Read more.
Hardwoods commonly have high mechanical properties, which makes them interesting for structural use, but softwoods dominate the structural timber market in Europe. Tensile strength classes are recommended for engineered wood products. However, current European standards do not provide tensile strength classes for hardwoods and the declaration of tensile properties from machine grading in the industry is not yet possible. The present paper aims to contribute to the revision of European standards through the technical group CEN/TC124/WG2/TG2: Tensile strength classes for hardwoods, of the European Standardisation Committee. An experimental campaign which involved machine grading and tensile testing of over 569 boards of Southern blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus Labill.) from Spain and Portugal was made. Six new tensile strength classes were defined, from ET24 (ft,0,k = 24 N/mm2, Et,0,m = 18 kN/mm2 and ρk = 590 kg/m3) to ET42 (ft,0,k = 42 N/mm2, Et,0,m = 23 kN/mm2 and ρk = 640 kg/m3). Machine grading made possible the definition of six strength class combinations. Four combinations resulted in 40% of the sample being assigned to the higher strength class, with low percentages of rejection (varying between 1% and 14%). This demonstrates the high mechanical properties of the species and the performance improvement of machine grading with respect to current visual grading. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Insights into the Assessment of Wood Properties)
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15 pages, 3371 KiB  
Article
The Role of Abrasion Resistance in Determining Suitability of Low-Density Plantation Timber for Engineered Flooring
by Kuluni Millaniyage, Nathan Kotlarewski, Assaad Taoum and Louise Wallis
Forests 2023, 14(7), 1309; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14071309 - 26 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1323
Abstract
Abrasion resistance is an important property for the functional performance and serviceability of timber floors. Although hardness is the conventional criterion used in selecting species for flooring applications, it shows greater variations and restricts the use of low-density species, whereas abrasion resistance could [...] Read more.
Abrasion resistance is an important property for the functional performance and serviceability of timber floors. Although hardness is the conventional criterion used in selecting species for flooring applications, it shows greater variations and restricts the use of low-density species, whereas abrasion resistance could generate a more reliable indication of a product’s surface performance. Eucalyptus nitens is a fast-grown global plantation species extensively available in Tasmania, Australia. Until recently, this material has been perceived as unsuitable for appearance applications such as flooring. This study assesses several engineered flooring prototypes comprised of E. nitens—sawlog managed and fibre-managed resources—compared to an existing market product (E. obliqua and a commercial engineered timber flooring product with UV-cured coating). Tests were performed in accordance with the EN 14354:2016, sandpaper method using Taber abraser and further modified to test flooring prototypes. The highest abrasion resistance was observed in the E. nitens veneer composite product. Fibre-managed E. nitens resulted in the greatest level of abrasion, while sawlog-managed E. nitens was comparable to native regrowth E. obliqua, a commonly used flooring species historically used in Australia. Therefore, the findings from this research suggest there are suitable flooring applications for plantation E. nitens as engineered wood products in some domestic and residential dwellings when compared to existing native products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Insights into the Assessment of Wood Properties)
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18 pages, 4011 KiB  
Article
Nondestructive Techniques for Determination of Wood Mechanical Properties of Urban Trees in Madrid
by Gabriel H. Virgen-Cobos, Guadalupe Olvera-Licona, Eva Hermoso and Miguel Esteban
Forests 2022, 13(9), 1381; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13091381 - 29 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1852
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to analyze the mechanical properties of Robinia pseudoacacia L. (black locust), Platanus × hybrida Brot. (London plane), Ulmus pumila L. (Siberian elm), and Populus alba L. (white poplar), estimated using ultrasound wave equipment (USLab y Sylvatest Duo) [...] Read more.
The aim of this paper is to analyze the mechanical properties of Robinia pseudoacacia L. (black locust), Platanus × hybrida Brot. (London plane), Ulmus pumila L. (Siberian elm), and Populus alba L. (white poplar), estimated using ultrasound wave equipment (USLab y Sylvatest Duo) and impact wave equipment (Microsecond Timer) on standing trees, felled logs and on specimens obtained from different parts of the trees. Bending strength, axial compression strength and tension parallel to grain were determined for each specimen, in order to subsequently correlate the strength and stiffness with the acoustic properties determined in the standing tree. For the relationship between the static modulus of elasticity of the specimens and the dynamic modulus of elasticity determined in standing trees using the USLab, coefficients of determination were found to be between 0.30–0.92, between 0.52 and 0.80 using the Sylvatest Duo and between 0.60 and 0.94 with the Microsecond Timer. It would be necessary to determine whether the removal of bark for the correct coupling of the ultrasonic sensors would provide an entry route for pests or diseases that could affect the health of the tree. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Insights into the Assessment of Wood Properties)
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15 pages, 5142 KiB  
Article
Embedment Strength of Low- and Medium-Density Hardwood Species from Spain
by Gonzalo Cabrera, Gonzalo Moltini and Vanesa Baño
Forests 2022, 13(8), 1154; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13081154 - 22 Jul 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1491
Abstract
The embedment strength is a key parameter in the design of timber connections with metal fasteners. This property can be determined by the equations given by design codes such as the Eurocode 5, which are based on the European Yield Model proposed by [...] Read more.
The embedment strength is a key parameter in the design of timber connections with metal fasteners. This property can be determined by the equations given by design codes such as the Eurocode 5, which are based on the European Yield Model proposed by Johansen, and it depends on the value of timber density among other parameters. These equations provided by design codes are based on experimental tests performed mainly in softwood species; thus, the objective of this work is to evaluate the embedment strength of two low- and medium-density hardwood species from Spain (poplar—Populus x euroamericana; beech—Fagus sylvatica) in the parallel and perpendicular to grain directions. Four different experimental test configurations were carried out according to EN 383 for each species using two different fasteners: (i) a 9 mm-diameter screw and (ii) a 12 mm-diameter bolt. Results of embedment strength were evaluated according to three different determination methods, and later compared with the current equations provided by Eurocode 5 (EC5) and new ones proposed in the draft of the new Eurocode 5 (prEC5). Results showed that current equations overestimated perpendicular to grain embedment strength for the cases studied, while the equation proposed in prEC5 for screws fitted best perpendicular to grain embedment strength. However, it underestimated the parallel to grain one because it does not consider any difference due to load-to-grain angle (α). Finally, ratios between experimental parallel and perpendicular to grain embedment strength were studied (k90), showing 30% and 44% higher values than the theoretical values resulting from k90 equations of EC5 and prEC5 for beech with screws and bolts, respectively, and 4% and 49% higher than the theoretical values for poplar with screws and bolts, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Insights into the Assessment of Wood Properties)
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