Cel A. BACKGROUNDThe Wood Technology Sector Group of the COST Technical Committee on Forestry and Forest Products has compiled the national priorities regarding wood technology research and on that basis it has discussed the European priorities and needs for increased cooperation and new COST Actions. In this process, the aspects of wood adhesion have proved to have a high priority among research needs.Adhesion of wood: Gluing is an essential phase in the manufacture and further processing of wood-based products and wooden structures. Some of today's examples of these products are finger-jointed sawn timber, glue-laminated boards and structures, LVL (laminated veneer lumber), microlam, plywood, OSB (oriented strand board), Microlam, Kertopuu, Parallam, Scrimber, particleboard, fibreboard and other panel products. Gluing makes it possible not only to produce components and large dimension timber but also to utilise small-sized wood and by-products from solid wood processing. The properties of the glued products can be tailored and controlled by the selection of wood raw material (boards, laminates, veneers, particles or fibres), choice of adhesives and the selection of product structure. The variations in the product properties can be kept within smaller limits than in the case of solid wood. The use of wood raw material can be optimised in glued structures, for instance by using laminates of inferior quality inside the structure and laminates of high visual quality on the exterior surface.The adhesives and the gluing technology used greatly influence the technical and environmental properties, and the performance and costs of the glued products. The adhesives currently used are mainly synthetic, oil-based, often two-component glues. For environmental reasons, adhesives based on renewable resources (tannins, lignins, carbohydrates and proteins) have recently been under intense study in the laboratory but they are seldom used in practice. The bonding between wood and adhesive is mainly by secondary hydrogen bonds and by the mechanical anchoring of the glue in the porous wood tissue. The surface characteristics of the wood are very important and for the formation of the glue bond it is essential that the adhesive is properly spread into the wood surfaces to join the surfaces together and for the adhesive to harden into a strong glue bond resistant to the stresses induced during useage. The adhesives used are classified according to a chemical basis or the end-use basis (e.g. exterior or weather-resistant glues, glues for loadbearing structures etc).Current knowledge of wood-gluing technology is deficient. There is rather little fundamental research on the adhesion mechanisms and the factors that affect adhesion between different types of adhesives and wood materials, and on the long-term behaviour and properties of adhesive bond in wood. New types of glues have been introduced to the market but the forest products industry often lacks knowledge of the optimal choice of glues to match the product requirements. Gluing costs are rather high and the gluing process can be a bottle-neck that restricts the speed and capacity of production. Gluing failures in production cause waste, and failures in practice weaken the confidence in wood products. The use of oil-based glues increases the environmental impacts in comparison to solid wood products by increasing the consumption of non-renewable resources and energy. Some glues may be associated with health risks, critical emissions or problems in the treatment of wastes and demolition products.The optimisation of wood gluing requires the integration of the basic knowledge of adhesive chemistry and wood science. Research on adhesives and gluing technology for wood products is mainly carried out by the manufacturers of glues and gluing equipments as well as by wood technology or chemistry research units in research institutes and universities. Glue manufacturers have a good grasp of adhesive chemistry but their knowledge of wood material may be lacking. In wood technology laboratories, research groups involved in gluing technology tend to be small and application-oriented. Researchers lack a framework within which they can exchange experiences, integrate the scattered knowledge and work in cooperation to solve challenging problems. A COST Action could provide such a framework and bring together researchers from the universities and research institutes as well as from the industry to promote collaborative work.Research on wood-based composites in Europe seems to lag behind somewhat in comparison to North America, and as a result of this, the product assortment and the use of wood-based composites in comparison to solid wood is more developed in Northern America. As the demand for wood products is predicted to increase in Europe lower quality and small dimension timber will be increasingly used and this has to be transformed into high quality products. This trend will favour the increased use of wood for composites and glued products and signals the importance of strengthening European research in the field.Links to other European activities: The proposed COST Action is linked with other COST Actions, such as E2 Wood Durability, E5 Timber Frame Building Systems, E8 Mechanical Performance of Wood and Wood Products, E9 LCA Forestry and E10 Wood Properties for Industrial Use. The work will be complementary and will not overlap with the other Actions. The proposed Action also has links to some existing EU research projects, like BLOWDRY (fibre processing) in the FAIR programme and Tegubloc (Robinia and making glued products) in the Copernicus programme.B. OBJECTIVES AND BENEFITSThe main objective of the Action is to improve the performance, competitiveness and environmental properties of glued wood products and structures by improving the knowledge of wood gluing.The detailed objectives are:- to set up an interdisciplinary forum for the creation of a better understanding of wood adhesion by bringing together wood scientists, wood researchers and adhesive researchers;- to define the present knowledge of the interaction of wood and adhesives and of wood gluing technology, to identify the knowledge gaps and suggest relevant research work;- to strengthen the basis for industrial development in the field by linking the practical problems and needs of the industry to science and basic industrial research;- to stimulate the collection of data, exchange of knowledge and dissemination of information of the results of ongoing national research in the field;- to create a framework for the structuring of knowledge in the field, benchmarking and adoption of common research methodology and new research tools.The expected benefits from improved knowledge on wood gluing for the wood and adhesive industry include the optimal choice of glues for different wood raw materials and end-use products, optimisation of the gluing process, improvement of the quality of glued products and structures, development of adhesives and gluing technology in order to reduce gluing costs, to achieve a safer working environment and to improve the environmental properties of glued products as well as the prospects for novel gluing systems and glued products and structures.The beneficial and spin-off effects of the proposed research work are more efficient utilisation of wood raw material, the increased utilisation of small-sized and low-grade wood and wood residues for high-performance wood-based products and the development of gluing equipment and production facilities.The ultimate goals are improved competitiveness, performance and environmental properties of glued wood-based products and thus the development of the European market for value-added wood products.C. SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMEThe Action is intended to create and organise the cooperation in ongoing and future European research work in wood gluing. An interdisciplinary approach is needed for the subject and the scientists and professionals who work under this Action will originate from many different backgrounds, such as researchers within adhesive chemistry, wood science, wood technology and wood engineering in universities, research institutes and from within the industry.The overall scientific programme will be divided into three working areas which also have strong interactions. The following list indicates the most obvious specific research tasks in each of the working areas (proposed Working Groups).WG 1: Adhesives and gluing processes- Adhesion mechanisms, formation of the adhesive bond in wood- Requirements of the wood and wood surfaces to be glued- Stabilisation/modification of the wood surface for improved adhesion- Moisture content effects, gluing of wet wood- Simulation and modelling of the gluing process and gluing result- Acceleration of the gluing process- New technologies for the application of glues- Gluing on the building site, including the repair of old structures- Durability of adhesives- End-use oriented improvement of the existing adhesives- Development of environmentally safer bio-based adhesivesWA 2: Glued products and structures- Quality and performance of glued products (composites, structural laminates and other glued products) and the improvement of performance- Stress distribution in bonded products- Critical emissions and the reduction of emissions from glued products- Corrosion of metallic fasteners in glued products- Development of innovative glued products and structures- LCA of glued products and structures and the reduction of environmental impacts- Utilisation of gluing for the reuse and recycling of wood- Product certification and approvalsWG 3: Test methods and performance standards- Test methods for the characterisation of adhesives- Test methods for the characterisation of the adhesion properties of wood surfaces- Test methods for the characterisation of adhesive bond- Test methods for the determination of the quality and performance of glued productsThe scientific programme and objectives will be more closely specified in the beginning of the Action based on the ongoing and national research projects in the field. The objectives will be met by the following activities:- organisation of working groups, workshops and seminars, and visits to laboratories and firms- compilation of ongoing research, research capabilities and facilities in the field with special emphasis on advanced research methodology and tools- drawing up and dissemination of state-of-the-art reports and activity reports- exchange of information on the results of national research projects- exchange of researchers through short-term scientific missions- identification of knowledge gaps and research goals and the preparation of joint research proposals for Community research programmes and other suitable programmes.D. ORGANISATION AND TIMETABLEThe cooperative process will be led by a Management Committee: Under the Committee, three Working Groups will be established, one for each working area.The work of the Action is divided into three phases:Phase 1: Organising the Action, state of the art (12 months). The work will commence with a Management Committee meeting in which the objectives are refined, the working programme is scheduled and the Working Groups are established. The Working Groups will meet and compile the ongoing national research and state of the art in the field. The results of the work will be presented in a joint workshop at the end of the phase.Phase 2: Work in the network of Working Groups (24 months). The working groups will arrange meetings and seminars in order to report and disseminate the information gained from the results of national research work and discuss research problems and findings. Additionally, short-term scientific visits will be organised. The working groups will report to the Management Committee. An evaluation will be made at mid-term of the Action. A combined workshop is to be arranged at the end of the phase.Phase 3: Conclusions, state-of-the-art review and proposals for further work (12 months). The results of the Action will be concluded and disseminated. Research and network proposals will be prepared for the Community and EUREKA programmes. The final report will be produced and adopted.E. ECONOMIC DIMENSIONThe following COST countries have actively participated in the preparation of the Action, or have otherwise indicated their interest:AustriaFinlandDenmarkGermanyGreeceItalyNetherlandsRomaniaSwedenUnited KingdomOn the basis of the national estimates provided by the representatives of these countries and taking into account the coordination costs to be covered over the COST budget of the European Commission, the overall cost of the activities to be carried out under the Action has been estimated, according to 1997 prices, at roughly ECU 6 million. The total number of person-years involved in the Action has been estimated at 70.This estimate is valid under the assumption that all the countries mentioned above, but no other countries, will participate in the Action. Any departure from this will change the total cost accordingly. Program(-y) IC-COST - European cooperation in the field of scientific and technical research (COST), 1971- Temat(-y) 14 - Forestry Zaproszenie do składania wniosków Data not available System finansowania Data not available Koordynator N/A Wkład UE Brak danych Adres Francja Zobacz na mapie Koszt całkowity Brak danych
