Online seminars

Wood is a greatly heterogeneous material that is difficult to understand. Often, the development of new products and innovative processes or applications in wood science involves complex phenomena that are difficult to describe and analyze.

Formaldehyde-free adhesives form the focal point of the Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research WKI’s 18th Webinar on 17.12.2013 at 15:00.

The opportunities offered by the utilisation of secondary raw materials resulting from the recycling of waste wood are the subject of the 17th Webinar from the Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research WKI on 22nd October, 2013 at 15:00.

That’s just how it is. Beginning with 1st of July we have to work according the new Construction Product Regulation. This also has influences to the wood-based panel industry. Especially CE-marking and the declaration of performance will have some changes. And many things are not clear until now.

Numerical simulation is an exceptionally important method for comprehending and understanding processes and conditions which are otherwise not visible.

In this Fraunhofer WKI Online Seminar, you can find out how the bonding strength and water resistance of amino resins as adhesives in the manufacture of wood-based materials can be improved.

In 1974, Ib Andersen, Gunnar R. Lundqvist and Lars Mølhave publicized in their article »Liberation of formaldehyde from particleboard. A mathematical model« (Ugeskr. Læg. 1974: 136: 2145-2150) a mathematical model for the calculation of the formaldehyde release from particle boards into interior room air.

Polylactide (PLA) is currently the most important biopolymer on the market for packaging, due to its high production capacity at a competitive price as well as its transparence, low migration levels and mechanical characteristics which are similar to PET. Due to the quantities, which have greatly increased in recent years, the end-of-life management of biopolymers – in particular PLA – is becoming increasingly important.

The Fraunhofer WKI’s current Webinar on 21.1.2014 provides an overview of the current research status and the projects being carried out at the Application Center for Wood Fiber Research into surface modification. The Online Seminar is primarily directed at participants from the fields of automotive manufacture, construction and the furniture industry.

Principally, WPC are marketed as recyclable products because, due to the utilized thermoplastic polymers, they can be materially recycled, i.e. ground, melted and re-extruded.

Whilst solvent-based coatings for plastics demonstrate good adhesive strength and surface wetting, they are being applied less and less due to legal regulations such as the VOC Directive (1999) and the Decopaint Directive (2004). In a project supported by the AiF, WKI scientists are developing solvent-free, water-based coatings for façades from wood-polymer composites.

In this Fraunhofer WKI Online Seminar, you can find out how bio-based binder components with cyclic substructures can be synthesized from random unsaturated fatty acids through simple chemical modifications.

Gemäß den verschiedenen Verordnungen in Europa und speziell den geltenden Anforderungen in Deutschland zur Überwachung von Holzwerkstoffen werden Nachweise im Rahmen der Produktionskontrolle im werkseigenen Labor gefordert. Eine der zu prüfenden Leistungseigenschaften sind Formaldehydabgabe bzw. -gehalt der zertifizierten Produkte. In accordance with the varying regulations in Europe and, in particular, the applicable requirements in Germany for the monitoring of wood-based materials, in-house laboratory documentation of the factory production control system is required. One of the performance characteristics which must be tested is the formaldehyde emission/content of the certified products.

The hybridization of natural fibers with high-performance fibers enables the production of application-oriented custom composites. Special attention is paid in this case by the researchers to the interface quality between the different fibers and the matrix.

Hidden defects in rotor blades of wind energy turbines can cause huge economic losses and, in the worst case of a breaking blade, threaten human lives. Consequently, the detection of structural anomalies in rotor blades should have the first priority.

“Gluing on demand” enables the use of fast-curing adhesives with a long wet life for the joining of bondings. During the Fraunhofer WKI online seminar, the challenges and solution approaches for this technology will be presented using two selected research projects.

Polyester acrylates are used as the main components in UV-curable coatings and inks. In the 33rd Fraunhofer WKI Webinar, an acrylate-free alternative on the basis of renewable raw resources will be presented.

Volatile organic substances which are released into the indoor air of buildings by building products and furnishings have been intensively studied over the past few decades. In Germany and a number of neighboring countries, emissions from building products are regulated within the framework of the European Construction Products Regulation. The Ausschuss für Innenraumrichtwerte (Commission for indoor air values, AIR) is compiling substance-specific guideline values for indoor air including, for the first time, a number of so-called very volatile organic compounds (VVOC).

A recent development at the Fraunhofer WKI, involving a veneer lathe combined with a mobile steam pit, has enabled the researchers to flexibly and self-sufficiently produce laminated materials from wood. They are thereby able to simulate the manufacturing process from the wood yard through to the finished product for their customers.

The design of wooden structures subjected to variable, increased strain rates required deeper knowledge of the dynamic material properties. Examples of dynamical loads include seismic and wind action on buildings, impact loads on sports equipment, impact loads on roadside crash barriers, etc..

Fundamental considerations indicate that, for certain organic compounds, dermal absorption from air is an uptake pathway that is comparable to or greater than inhalation. Yet this pathway has not been experimentally evaluated and has been largely overlooked when assessing uptake of indoor pollutants.

The use of renewable sources from agricultural and forestry wastes, i.e. plant-based natural flax fibers or wood-chip residues, as building materials can promote the sustainability of the construction sector.

In recent years, natural fiber- and hybrid-fiber-reinforced thermosets and thermoplastics have gained the attention of the industry in diverse sectors.

Conceivable fields of application include functional coatings, switchable structural adhesives, matrix materials for fiber-composite plastics, organic sheets and 3D printing. During the Webinar, a scientific assistant from the Surface Technology department will present the results achieved to date in the development of these polymers, to which a multitude of functionalities can be attached in accordance with a modular principle.

Wood processing has been known to emit a large amount of inhalable wood dust, but the emissions of smaller particles, i.e. fine particles and ultrafine particles with a diameter smaller than 10 μm and 100 nm, respectively, as well as their exposure levels, remain unclear.

This webinar introduces a novel approach to accelerated artificial weathering of wood coatings. The results obtained so far allow promising predictions to be made about the life cycle of exterior wood coatings.

The Webinar follows on contextually from the Webinar “Extremely elusive: Very Volatile Organic Compounds” from November 17th, 2015 and presents the results of a research project in which the Fraunhofer WKI, together with industrial partners, has intensively addressed the topic of VVOCs.

As people spend the largest part of their lives indoors, odor nuisances are of particular importance there. In this webinar, the Fraunhofer WKI presents new approaches for the simplification of odour evaluation by means of chemical analyses.

The high-value utilization of natural fibers and their derivatives for technical applications in small and large-scale production forms the focus of the current research activities at the Fraunhofer WKI.

Climate change promotes the emergence of invasive species of wood-destroying insects. The Fraunhofer WKI is currently developing a control procedure for imports of wood and wood-based packaging. The Webinar is aimed at timber importers and merchants, forest-protection authorities and other interested parties.