Water-Related Properties and Biological Durability of Wood-Based Composites

There is insufficient data regarding the biodegradation of wood-based composites (WBC) by wood decay fungi. This study aimed to evaluate the biological durability and water-related properties of different WBC types. Although WBC are primarily designed for dry environments, in building applications, they may face increased moisture risks due to water leakage, condensation, or humid air. The panels, including oak-pine shield parquet (OPP), oriented strand board (OSB), birch plywood (BP), particle board (PB), laminated particle board (LPB), moisture-resistant particle board (MRPB), medium density fibreboard (MDF), laminated medium density fibreboard (LMDF) and moisture resistant medium density fibreboard (MRMDF), were subjected to attack by brown rot fungus Coniphora puteana. After 16 weeks of exposure, the most resistant WBC against biodegradation were BP, moisture-resistant MDF, and laminated MDF, as they exhibited a mass loss lower than 5 %. Conversely, all other WBC types showed high susceptibility to biodegradation, with a mass loss exceeding 35 %. LMDF (8 – 51 %) and MRMDF had the lowest water absorption (WA) within 168 h (2 – 46 %), while non-treated MDF exhibited the highest WA among all composite types with 190 % water uptake. With regards to thickness swelling, all WBC types, except for LPB and MDF, demonstrated values below 20 %. The influence of adhesives (phenol-formaldehyde or melamine urea-formaldehyde) used in WBC did not show a clear impact on water-related properties orbiological durability

The database of 3D body scanning measurements

Safety and comfort of work wear is defined by the materials used and fit of the garment. The ergonomic fit of work wear is highly dependent on body size. It is noticed, that comparing to old body size data bases, human body has changed and new tables are to be developed. In this work contactless automatic 3D body scanning procedure was employed, which generates set of 152 measurement data in just 15 seconds, and also portable device. Significance of each measured point for garment design and comfort of wearer is defined by the type and functional purpose of garment. Based on types of most common work wear twenty-four body measurements were chosen as the important for being analysed in depth. Almost 550 work wear end users from chemical industry in Finland, military in Estonia and Latvia and construction workers in Poland were scanned. Obtained database allows for identification of typical and untypical silhouettes and arrangement of them in new dimensional ranges. Comparison of workers body dimensions with measurements of their work wear shows disparities on right adjusting of clothing for worker’s silhouette. The results of individual measurements shows significant relations with each other which should be considered at creating new size charts for work wear

Smart Clothing - Survey of existing wearable technologies and needs of end-user segments

Personal protection clothing has a role of protection against environmental and manmade hazards, have to assure comfort of worker and preserve human performance ability and life over long period of time. The trend in the design of workwear covers incorporate of specific electronic features for physiological monitoring, cold and heat protection, monitoring chemical and biological hours in the environment, fire protection, etc. This study was focusing on technological solutions and materials available in the market that are capable to satisfy users from military, firefighters, chemical and construction industry. The report reflects also techniques for integrating electronic components into garment