1,157 research outputs found

    Survey on the chemical composition of several tropical wood species

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    Variability in the chemical composition of 614 species is described in a database containing measurements of wood polymers (cellulose, lignin and pentosan), as well as overall extraneous components (ethanol-benzene, or hot water extracts and ash, with a focus on silica content). These measurements were taken between 1945 and 1990 using the same standard protocol. In all, 1,194 trees belonging to 614 species, 358 genera and 89 families were measured. At species level, variability (quantified by the coefficient of variation) was rather high for density (27%), much lower for lignin and cellulose (14% and 10%) and much higher for ethanol/benzene extractives, hot water extractives and ash content (81%, 60% and 76%). Considering trees with at least five different specimens, and species with at least 10 different trees, it was possible to investigate within-tree and withinspecies variability. Large differences were found between trees of a given species for extraneous components, and more than one tree should be needed per species. For density, lignin, pentosan and cellulose, the distribution of values was nearly symmetrical, with mean values of 720 kg/m3 for density, 29.1% for lignin, 15.8% for pentosan, and 42.4% for cellulose. There were clear differences between species for lignin content. For extraneous components, the distribution was very dissymmetrical, with a minority of woods rich in this component composing the high value tail. A high value for any extraneous component, even in only one tree, is sufficient to classify the species in respect of that component. Siliceous woods identified by silica bodies in anatomy have a very high silica content and only those species deserve a silica study

    Three-dimensional printing, muscles, and skeleton: mechanical functions of living wood

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    International audienceWood is well defined as an engineering material. However, living wood in the tree is often regarded only as a passive skeleton consisting of a sophisticated pipe system for the ascent of sap and a tree-like structure made of a complex material to resist external forces. There are two other active key roles of living wood in the field of biomechanics: (i) additive manufacturing of the whole structure by cell division and expansion, and (ii) a 'muscle' function of living fibres or tracheids generating forces at the sapwood periphery. The living skeleton representing most of the sapwood is a mere accumulation of dead tracheids and libriform fibres after their programmed cell death. It keeps a record of the two active roles of living wood in its structure, chemical composition, and state of residual stresses. Models and field experiments define four biomechanical traits based on stem geometry and parameters of wood properties resulting from additive manufacturing and force generation. Geometric parameters resulting from primary and secondary growth play the larger role. Passive wood properties are only secondary parameters, while dissymmetric force generation is key for movement, posture control, and tree reshaping after accidents

    Studies on European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). Part 1: Variations of wood colour parameters

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    Colour parameters of European beech were measured using CIELab system. 103 logs from 87 trees in 9 sites were cut into boards to study the variations of wood colour parameters. Both site and tree effect on colour were observed. Patterns of red heartwood occurrence were defined. When excepting red heartwood there was still a highly significant effect of site and tree; differences remained after veneer processing. Axial variations were small, except very near the pith or in red heartwood, suggesting possible early selection at periphery under colour criteria. Red heartwood is darker, redder and more yellow than normal peripheral wood.Comment: to be published in Annals of Forest Science reception 12.8.04; acceptation 15.2.0

    Changes in viscoelastic vibrational properties between compression and normal wood : roles of microfibril angle and of lignin

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    International audienceThis study aims at better understanding the respective influences of specific gravity (γ), microfibril angle (MFA), and cell-wall matrix polymers on viscoelastic vibrational properties of wood in axial direction. The wide variations of properties between normal wood (NW) and compression wood (CW) are in focus. Three young bent trees (Picea abies, Pinus sylvestris and Pinus pinaster) that recovered verticality were sampled. Several observed differences between NW and CW were highly significant in terms of anatomical, physical (γ, shrinkage, CIELab colorimetry), mechanical (compressive strength), and vibrational properties. Specific dynamic modulus of elasticity (E'/γ) decreases with increasing MFA, and Young's modulus (E') can be satisfactorily explained by γ and MFA. Apparently, the type of the cell wall polymer matrix is not influential in this regard. The damping coefficient (tanδ) does not depend solely on MFA of NW and CW. The tanδ - E'/γ relationship evidences that, at equivalent E'/γ, the tanδ of CW is approx. 34% lower than that of NW. This observation is ascribed to the more condensed nature of CW lignins, and this is discussed in the context of previous findings in other hygrothermal and time/frequency domains. It is proposed that the lignin structure and the amount and type of extractives, which are both different in various species, are partly responsible for taxonomy-related damping characteristics

    Computing an Optimal Control Policy for an Energy Storage

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    We introduce StoDynProg, a small library created to solve Optimal Control problems arising in the management of Renewable Power Sources, in particular when coupled with an Energy Storage System. The library implements generic Stochastic Dynamic Programming (SDP) numerical methods which can solve a large class of Dynamic Optimization problems. We demonstrate the library capabilities with a prototype problem: smoothing the power of an Ocean Wave Energy Converter. First we use time series analysis to derive a stochastic Markovian model of this system since it is required by Dynamic Programming. Then, we briefly describe the "policy iteration" algorithm we have implemented and the numerical tools being used. We show how the API design of the library is generic enough to address Dynamic Optimization problems outside the field of Energy Management. Finally, we solve the power smoothing problem and compare the optimal control with a simpler heuristic control.Comment: Part of the Proceedings of the 6th European Conference on Python in Science (EuroSciPy 2013), Pierre de Buyl and Nelle Varoquaux editors, (2014

    Anisotropy of wood vibrational properties: dependence on grain angle and review of literature data

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    International audienceThe anisotropy of vibrational properties influences the acoustic behaviour of wooden pieces and their dependence on grain angle (GA). As most pieces of wood include some GA, either for technological reasons or due to grain deviations inside trunks, predicting its repercussions would be useful. This paper aims at evaluating the variability in the anisotropy of wood vibrational properties and analysing resulting trends as a function of orientation. GA dependence is described by a model based on transformation formulas applied to complex compliances, and literature data on anisotropic vibrational properties are reviewed. Ranges of variability, as well as representative sets of viscoelastic anisotropic parameters, are defined for mean hardwoods and softwoods and for contrasted wood types. GA-dependence calculations are in close agreement with published experimental results and allow comparing the sensitivity of different woods to GA. Calculated trends in damping coefficient (tanδ) and in specific modulus of elasticity (E′/ρ) allow reconstructing the general tanδ-E′/ρ statistical relationships previously reported. Trends for woods with different mechanical parameters merge into a single curve if anisotropic ratios (both elastic and of damping) are correlated between them, and with axial properties, as is indicated by the collected data. On the other hand, varying damping coefficient independently results in parallel curves, which coincide with observations on chemically modified woods, either "artificially", or by natural extractives

    Determinantal sets, singularities and application to optimal control in medical imagery

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    Control theory has recently been involved in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance imagery. The goal is to control the magnetic field optimally in order to improve the contrast between two biological matters on the pictures. Geometric optimal control leads us here to analyze mero-morphic vector fields depending upon physical parameters , and having their singularities defined by a deter-minantal variety. The involved matrix has polynomial entries with respect to both the state variables and the parameters. Taking into account the physical constraints of the problem, one needs to classify, with respect to the parameters, the number of real singularities lying in some prescribed semi-algebraic set. We develop a dedicated algorithm for real root classification of the singularities of the rank defects of a polynomial matrix, cut with a given semi-algebraic set. The algorithm works under some genericity assumptions which are easy to check. These assumptions are not so restrictive and are satisfied in the aforementioned application. As more general strategies for real root classification do, our algorithm needs to compute the critical loci of some maps, intersections with the boundary of the semi-algebraic domain, etc. In order to compute these objects, the determinantal structure is exploited through a stratifi-cation by the rank of the polynomial matrix. This speeds up the computations by a factor 100. Furthermore, our implementation is able to solve the application in medical imagery, which was out of reach of more general algorithms for real root classification. For instance, computational results show that the contrast problem where one of the matters is water is partitioned into three distinct classes
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