Surface and Physical Features of Thermo-Mechanically Modified Iroko and Tauari Wood for Flooring Application

The aim of the study was to determine the selected surface and physical properties of iroko (Milicia excelsa (Welw.) C.C. Berg) and tauari (Couratari spp.) wood after thermo-mechanical treatment (TMT) in relation to extractive content. During TMT, no chemicals are introduced into the wood, which distinguishes this method from a number of wood modification methods. The iroko and tauari wood were subjected to volumetric densification in a hydraulic press. The wood was densified in a radial direction at a temperature of 100 and 150 °C. The wood color parameters were measured using the mathematical CIE L*a*b* and L*C*h color space models. The roughness parameters of Ra and Rz parallel and perpendicular to the grain were investigated. The contact angle (CA) of the wood with distilled water was determined based on the sessile drop method. The equilibrium moisture content (EMC) and dimensional changes of the wood were determined for a climate with a temperature of 20 °C and a relative humidity (RH) of 9%, 34%, 55%, 75% and 98%. The tauari wood was less prone to color changes under the influence of TMT than the iroko wood. After densification, the iroko and tauari wood displayed a different character of roughness changes. The iroko wood featured the lowest level of roughness after TMT at 100 °C, and the tauari wood after TMT at 150 °C. The densified iroko and tauari wood were characterized by weaker dynamics in the changes in their respective contact angles than the non-densified wood. The higher the temperature of the TMT, the lower the EMC of the wood. Higher EMC values were observed for the tauari wood than for the iroko wood. This was due to the lower content of chloroform-ethanol extractives. Similar dependencies were obtained in the case of hot water extractives. The thermo-mechanically treated wood displayed a greater tendency towards dimensional changes in a climate with high relative air humidity, i.e., above 70%, compared to the non-modified wood.

SELECTED PROPERTIES OF COMPREGNATED WOOD USING LOW MOLECULAR WEIGHT PHENOL FORMALDEHYDE AND SUCCINIC ANHYDRIDE

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of impregnating materials (low molecular weight phenol formaldehyde or LmwPF and succinic anhydride or SA), their concentrations (5and 10%), and compression ratios (20 and 40% from initial thickness)on improvement of specific gravity (SG) and dimensional stability on nyatoh, sepetir, and pisang putih wood; and then compared them to control and densified wood. The results showed that SG and dimensional stability of compregnated wood were affected by all parameters studied. Higher compression ratio and concentration will result in a greater improvement.In general, SG and dimensional stability of compregnated wood were better than the control.SG of LmwPF-and SA-compregnated wood increased by 10.69‒22.31% and 6.96‒23.09%, respectively. Utilization of LmwPF and SA has significantly reduced the spring-back, butthe latter is better. Thecompression-set recovery after compregnation was 18.34‒33.99%, while after densification was 47.86‒71.49%.

Characterization of Microstructure, Chemical, and Physical Properties of Delignified and Densified Poplar Wood

Wood is an attractive and inherently sustainable alternative to many conventional materials. Recent research on improving wood mechanical strength emphasizes wood densification through the partial removal of lignin and hemicelluloses, therefore the chemical and physical properties of delignified and densified wood require further investigation. In this study, poplar wood samples were subjected to alkali and maleic acid hydrotropic delignification with varying degrees of lignin and hemicellulose removal followed by hot pressing, and the microstructure, chemical properties, and dimensional stability of densified wood through delignification were evaluated. The results showed that the complete wood cell collapse was observed near the surface of all the delignified wood blocks, as well as some micro-cracks in the cell walls. The chemical analysis indicated that delignification occurred mainly near the surface of the wood blocks and enhanced hydrogen bonding among the aligned cellulose fibers. For dimensional stability, the set recovery decreased with the increase in alkali dosage, and the considerable fixation of compressive deformation was obtained by a post-densification hydrothermal treatment at 180 °C. These results have demonstrated that the densified wood with delignification can be easily fabricated using the proposed method, and the densified wood exhibited great potential to be used as a sustainable material.

The Use of an Artificial Neural Network for Predicting the Gloss of Thermally Densified Wood Veneers

In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was developed to predict the gloss of thermally densified wood veneers. A custom application created with MATLAB codes was employed for the development of the multilayer feed-forward ANN model. The wood species, temperature, pressure, measurement direction, and angle of incidence were considered as the model inputs, while the gloss was the output of the ANN model. Model performance was evaluated by using the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), the root mean square error (RMSE), and the coefficient of determination (R²). It was observed that the ANN model yielded very satisfactory results with acceptable deviations. The MAPE, RMSE, and R2 values of the testing period of the ANN model were found as 8.556%, 1.245, and 0.9814, respectively. Consequently, this study could be useful for the wood industry to predict the gloss with less number of tiring experimental activities.

Transdisciplinary Application of Functional Materials in Petroleum Engineering

Currently, transdisciplinary integration has become increasingly close, and has gradually become the source of innovation. At the same time, petroleum engineering technologies demand more new technologies like functional materials and electronic information technologies. In order to effectively promote technological innovation and development of the petroleum engineering, it is important to continuously monitor, analyze and evaluate the latest development of the technologies outside of the oil and gas industry. This paper combines qualitative analysis of onsite demands, application cases, technical characteristics, and quantitative analysis of literature metrology, patent evaluation, technology maturity, to evaluate the application prospects of densified wood, liquid metal and poly (thioctic acid) in the field of petroleum engineering, and specific transdisciplinary suggestions are put forward. It is recommended to carry out pre-research work for the potential application of functional materials in the petroleum engineering, and it is expected to introduce new materials for downhole tools, new antennas for downhole instruments, extend long-term effectiveness of downhole plugging, and improve drilling efficiency.