Moisture-induced stresses and distortions in spruce cross-laminates and composite laminates

The crosswise gluing of cross-laminated panels made of solid wood can cause problems when exposed to moisture variations. In the present study, the substitution of the spruce middle layer by a wood composite is tested for its influence on moisture-induced stresses and deformations in laboratory tests and numerical simulations. Furthermore, slits in the spruce middle layer were investigated. The hygroscopic warping due to a moisture gradient, stresses caused by moistening and cracks due to drying were studied. The results show larger warping in composite laminates compared to the spruce cross-laminate, which is governed by the modulus of elasticity of the middle layer. The in-plane swelling was found to be larger in composite laminates, while stresses were lower. The drying test discovered that cracks develop in the middle layer of spruce-medium density fiberboard laminates due to shear stresses and tensile stresses in the thickness direction. It was concluded that slits can be applied in the middle layer, as they have no significant influence on moisture-induced stresses but increase the thermal insulation. If the substitution of the spruce layer is required, the application of oriented strand board in the middle layer is recommende

Generic failure mechanisms in adhesive bonds

The failure of adhesive bondlines has been studied at the microscopic level via tensile tests. Stable crack propagation could be generated by means of samples with improved geometry, which made in situ observations possible. The interaction of cracks with adhesive bondlines under various angles to the crack propagation was the focus of this study, as well as the respective loading situations for the adhesives urea formaldehyde (UF), polyurethane (PUR), and polyvinyl acetate (PVAc), which have distinctly different mechanical behaviors. It has been shown how adhesive properties influence the occurrence of certain failure mechanisms and determine their appearance and order of magnitude. With the observed failure mechanisms, it becomes possible to predict the propagation path of a crack through the specime

Adhesive penetration of hardwood: a generic penetration model

An analytical model to predict the penetration of adhesives into hardwood is proposed. Penetration into hardwood is dominated by the vessel network which prohibits porous medium approximations. The model considers two scales: (1) a one dimensional capillary fluid transport of a hardening adhesive through a single, straight vessel with diffusion of solvent through the walls of the vessel; and (2) a mesoscopic scale based on topological characteristics of the vessel network. Given an initial amount of adhesive and applied bonding pressure, the portion of the filled structure could be calculated. The model was applied to beech samples joined with three different types of adhesive (PUR, UF, PVAc) under various growth ring angles as described by Hass et al. (2011). The model contains one free parameter that can be adjusted in order to fit the experimental dat

Inverse determination of effective mechanical properties of adhesive bondlines

A new approach for determining effective mechanical bondline properties using a combined experimental-numerical modal analysis technique is proposed. After characterizing clear spruce wood boards, an adhesive layer is applied to the boards' surfaces. The shift of the eigenfrequencies resulting from the adhesive layer together with information on the bondline geometry can then be used to inversely determine the mechanical properties of the adhesive layer using finite element models. The calculated values for clear wood as well as for the adhesive layer lie within reasonable ranges, thus demonstrating the method's potentia

Adhesive penetration in beech wood: experiments

A study with synchrotron radiation X-ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM) of PUR, PVAc, and UF adhesive bond lines in beech wood, bonded under various growth ring angles, is presented. The bond line morphologies and the adhesive penetration into the wood structure were evaluated after determining the hardening characteristics of the adhesives. Distinct bond line imperfections were found for the different adhesive systems. To describe the adhesive distribution inside the bond line, the saturation of the pore space instead of the commonly used maximum penetration depth seems to be adequat

Pore space analysis of beech wood: The vessel network

Water transport in wood is vital for the survival of trees. With synchrotron radiation X-ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM), it has become possible to characterize and quantify the three-dimensional (3D) network formed by vessels that are responsible for longitudinal transport. In the present study, the spatial size dependence of vessels and the organization inside single growth rings in terms of vessel-induced porosity was studied by SRXTM. Network characteristics, such as connectivity, were deduced by digital image analysis from the processed tomographic data and related to known complex network topologie

Improvement of tensile shear strength and wood failure percentage of 1C PUR bonded wooden joints at wet stage by means of DMF priming

Tensile shear tests according to EN 302-1 for load-bearing timber structures were performed on European beech wood (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Douglas fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] bonded by means of a one-component polyurethane adhesive (1C PUR). Results reveal a substantial loss of tensile shear strength (TSS) and wood failure percentage (WFP) at the wet stage compared to the dry stage. As can be seen from microscopic images, this is accompanied by a loss of adhesion at the boundary layer. Therefore, the aim of this work was to find a priming fluid that improves the load transmission between adhesive and adherend at the wet stage without introducing formaldehyde into the gluing process. A substantial improvement of TSS and WFP was achieved by means of the hygroscopic organic solvent N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF). In addition, contact angle measurements were carried out, revealing that DMF heavily enhances the wettability of the joining surface. Furthermore, it was attempted to integrate the outcomes into the swelling strain model stated by Frihart in 2009. By way of comparison a hydroxymethylated resorcinol coupling agent, a mixture of diphenylmethane-4,4′-diisocyanate isomers and water were also tested as priming fluids. The data confirm that TSS and WFP of 1C PUR bonded wooden joints do not correlate, whilst WFP is mostly not normally (at wet stage often bimodally) distributed