Strong Hardwood – A new resource-efficient material concept based on hardwood branches.
Abstract
Climate change is one of the main drivers behind adaptation processes that are currently progressing in Austrian forests. As a result, the share of coniferous wood is decreasing and hardwoods, especially beech and oak, are gaining importance as they are overall more resilient than spruce at low altitudes. However, the technological profile of oak and beech is fundamentally different from spruce, which is currently predominant, so novel approaches to high-value utilization, especially of non-sawable hardwood assortments, are needed. In the present application, splitting is proposed as one approach to minimize fiber deviations. Furthermore, split and curved macrofibered wood elements are to be plasticized and aligned in hot steam, and subsequently compacted into composite beams with aligned fibers, which can serve as structural elements e.g. in construction or automotive applications. The proposed highly raw material efficient concept brings a number of technical advantages and contributes to the intensive use of bio-based materials also in the future. It thus contributes to maintaining the competitiveness of the forest-based sector in times of climate change.
keywords Hardwood Splitting Densification Wood composite
Publikationen
Project staff
Wolfgang Gindl-Altmutter
Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.nat.techn. Wolfgang Gindl-Altmutter
wolfgang.gindl@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-89111
Project Leader
15.01.2022 - 14.01.2025
Johannes Konnerth
Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Johannes Konnerth
johannes.konnerth@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-89159
Project Staff
15.01.2022 - 14.01.2025
Tobias Josef Nenning
Dipl.-Ing. Tobias Josef Nenning
tobias.nenning@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-89118
Project Staff
15.01.2022 - 14.01.2025
Maximilian Pramreiter
Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Maximilian Pramreiter B.Sc.
maximilian.pramreiter@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-89123
Project Staff
15.01.2022 - 14.01.2025
BOKU partners
External partners
Institut für Industrielle Ökologie
Bernhard Windsperger
partner