Canadian wood species such as spruce and pine are difficult to treat with wood preservatives or other wood enhancing formulations due to a thin sapwood band and refractory heartwood. One method of improving penetration is by biological incising. Biological incising with Dichomitus squalens was originally developed in Austria in the 1990s to increase the permeability of European spruce prior to treatment with wood preservatives. Recently the patents on this technology lapsed. It was considered unlikely that industrial use of a European white-rot fungus would be acceptable in Canada. FPInnovations therefore conducted a screening test of a range of Canadian isolates of various white-rot fungi to identify an isolate that would be suitable for biological incising of Canadian spruce and pine. Under pure culture conditions, one isolate of Dichomitus squalens isolated from white spruce was found to greatly increase the permeability of the wood, particularly in spruce. The objective of the current study was to determine if these results could be achieved on commercial sized wood under non-sterile conditions more similar to an industrial setting. Lumber samples, 3.8 cm by 8.9 cm by 400 cm in length were incubated in plastic totes with fungal inoculum. Two isolates of fungi were tested as well as two different decontamination methods (steam and Benomyl solution) and two time frames (4 and 6 weeks). Through treatment of spruce samples (19 mm penetration) with 1.7% ACQ was achieved after six weeks incubation with D. squalens 78A (a spruce isolate). In matched samples treated with MCA, a minimum of 10 mm penetration was achieved in 90% of the samples. Strength loss in some individual samples was higher than adjustment factors for conventional incising (over 25%) suggesting that incubation time may need to be shortened. Preservative penetration was more variable in pine but permeability was increased; 60% of the samples reached a minimum penetration of 5 mm. Incubation time and conditions may need to be adjusted to achieve more consistent results. The results of this study show that biological incising can greatly improve the permeability of spruce and pine and can be achieved on 38 by 89 dimension lumber under conditions that could be utilized in an industrial setting. Future work should focus on determining incubation conditions that allow penetration requirements in Canadian standards to be met with acceptable strength loss.
The biggest obstacle to the enhancement of wood properties through any form of chemical treatment is the impermeability of the heartwood of virtually all Canadian Wood species and their relatively narrow sapwood. Incisors using toothed rollers are commonplace in Canadian treating plants but they are not used for many products due to the detrimental effect on surface appearance. Alternative incising technologies anticipated to have less effects on surface appearance have been investigated over the past 30 years. This report revisits four of these technologies, lasers, needles, water jets and biological incising and evaluates their potential for further investigation based on recent advances in technology. Even using the latest technology, laser incising would be too slow and too expensive for a Canadian treating plant. Needle incising would be too slow but the equipment cost should not be an issue. Water jet treatment would also be too slow and the equipment cost is unknown. Biological incising is a very different approach involving batch processing. The major factor would be the cost of inventory which depends on the duration of incubation yet to be determined.
A major constraint to the Canadian wood preservation industry in both domestic and export markets is the difficulty of penetrating Canadian wood species with preservatives. FPInnovations has put considerable effort into various forms of improved mechanical incising but these have not been adopted by the industry due to adverse effects on throughput and appearance of the final product. Recently, work in Europe has shown promising results from biological incising using white-rot fungi that colonize wood relatively rapidly but decay slowly. The use of European isolates of fungi in North America may be constrained by phytosanitary concerns. This report covers an experiment to screen North American isolates of white-rot fungi for potential as biological control agents. A modification of the soil-block test method was used to evaluate the ability of a range of fungi to improve permeability without affecting strength properties. Wood samples were exposed to the fungi for zero, two, four and six week time increments and were then treated with a 1.5% ACQ-D solution. Preservative uptake was calculated based on change in weight before and after treatment. Two isolates of Dichomitus squalens were found that dramatically increased preservative uptake. These samples were tested for strength loss and preservative penetration. Spruce samples exposed to D. squalens isolate 78A for six weeks were completely penetrated with preservative (19 mm depth) in all six samples. D. squalens 78B also showed promising results in pine and spruce samples based on uptake and penetration data. No stiffness loss was detected in any of these samples based on results from the crushing tests.
Airborne sound insulation performance of wall assemblies is a critical aspect which is directly associated with the comfort level of the occupants, which in turn affects the market acceptance.
Lack of research and design information for the seismic performance of balloon-type CLT shear walls prevents CLT from being used as an acceptable solution to resist seismic loads in balloon-type mass-timber buildings. To quantify the performance of balloon-type CLT structures subjected to lateral loads and create the research background for future code implementation of balloon-type CLT systems in CSA O86 and NBCC, FPInnovations initiated a project to determine the behaviour of balloon-type CLT construction. A series of tests on balloon-type CLT walls and connections used in these walls were conducted. Analytical models were developed based on engineering principles and basic mechanics to predict the deflection and resistance of the balloon-type CLT shear walls. This report covers the work related to development of the analytical models and the tests on balloon-type CLT walls that the models were verified against.
In 2015, the National Building Code of Canada (NBCC) [1] adopted prescriptive provisions to allow the construction of mid-rise (5- and 6-storey) buildings using combustible construction. These types of buildings were already permitted under the British Columbia Building Code, as of 2009 [2]. In2014 the Province of Ontario filed an amendment to also allow mid-rise wood buildings, however, it required that the exit fire separations be built using noncombustible construction having a fire resistance rating (FRR) of not less than 1.5-hr, which was an increase from the 1-hr requirement in the NBCC. The Québec Construction Code has also filed amendments to allow mid-rise wood construction and also limits exit stairwells to use noncombustible construction.
This report addresses serviceability issues of tall wood buildings focusing on vibration and sound insulation performance. The sound insulation and vibration performance may not affect building's safety, but affects occupants' comfort and proper operation of the buildings and the funciton of sensitive equipment, consequently the acceptance of midrise and tall wood buildings in market place. Lack of data, knowledge and experience of sound and vibration performance of tall wood buildings is one of the issues related to design and construction of tall wood buildings.
Advanced wood-based solutions for mid-rise and high-rise construction: in-situ testing of the Brock Commons 18-Storey building for vibration and acoustic performances
This report addresses serviceability issues of tall wood buildings focusing on their vibration and sound insulation performance. The sound insulation and vibration performance may not affect the building’s safety, but affects the occupants’ comfort and the proper operation of the buildings and the function of sensitive equipment, consequently the acceptance of the midrise and tall wood buildings in market place. Lack of data, knowledge and experience of sound and vibration performance of tall wood buildings is one of the issues related to design and construction of tall wood buildings.
The measured and estimated values should also be correlated with actual experiences of the occupants in the building if such information is obtained, for example, through a survey.
Advanced wood-based solutions for mid-rise and high-rise construction: in-situ testing of the Origine 13-storey building for vibration and acoustic performances
Serviceability performance studied covers three different performance attributes of a building. These attributes are 1) vibration of the whole building structure, 2) vibration of the floor system, typically in regards to motions in a localized area within the entire floor plate, and 3) sound insulation performance of the wall and floor assemblies. Serviceability performance of a building is important as it affects the comfort of its occupants and the functionality of sensitive equipment as well. Many physical factors influence these performances. Designers use various parameters to account for them in their designs and different criteria to manage these performances. Lack of data, knowledge and experience of sound and vibration performance of tall wood buildings is one of the issues related to design and construction of tall wood buildings.
survey.
FPInnovations conducted a research project to study the construction of mid-rise wood exit shafts in Ontario and Québec. The scope of the project included an investigation into the concerns that have been raised in regards to the use of wood exits in mid-rise buildings, an analysis of recent Canadian fire statistics in residential multi-family structures, and a fire demonstration of a mass timber wall and supported light-frame floor. This report describes the fire demonstration completed as part of this project; this report acts as a supplement to the full project report.
