School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences - Research Publications
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ItemAdvancing enhanced wood manufacturing industries in Laos and Australia - PML Easbeam Study Tour( 2019-11-01)This study tour was undertaken as a component of VALTIP 3 Activity 3.2 of Objective 3 (Develop and conduct formal and informal training programs for industry) in the ACIAR co-funded aid project FST/2016/151 Advancing enhanced wood manufacturing industries in Laos and Australia. The aim of this Study tour was to expose the new project partner PML Easbeam Company to engineered wood product manufacturing, potential markets and industries operating in Australia. The PML Easbeam company is a subsidiary of the PML company and was established in July 2019. The PML Company was successful in tendering for the construction of an add-on facility at the National University of Laos to contain equipment for veneer-based product production research. Subsequently, as an established construction company, the company saw the potential and were interested in engineered wood products made from wood veneer, in particular laminated veneer lumber (LVL) structural beams. At the point of writing this report, PML Easbeam is in the process of setting up an LVL plant in Vientiane to manufacture LVL beams using certified, plantation eucalyptus material for domestic and international markets. The PML Easbeam Company financed the study tour themselves. The expected mid to long-term outcome of this exposure is to facilitate the uptake of veneer-based processing and product development in Laos PDR. Previous research conducted during ACIAR co-funded aid project: FST/2008/039 Enhancement of veneer products from acacia and eucalypt plantations in Vietnam and Australia, identified spindleless-lathes as the most likely evolutionary technology to improve the productivity of processing small plantation-logs in Lao PDR. The veneer processing sector in Vietnam is well established and involves 4,200 wood processing and trading enterprises and in the order of thousands of household businesses employing over 300,000 labourers operating in over 300 traditional wood-processing villages (To and Quang, 2012). During surveys of small rural areas of Northern Vietnam, Ozarska et al. (2015) identified that exporters of peeled veneer to China and India cannot meet the demand of these countries. Therefore, this undersupply could provide potential export markets of processed veneer from small plantation-logs currently growing in Lao PDR.
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ItemAdvancing Enhanced Wood Manufacturing Industries in Laos and Australia - Rubberwood and Eucalyptus K7 Panel Manufacturing September 2019 (Internal Report)( 2019-10-09)This report presents an overview of a research and training activity conducted at the Faculty of Forestry, National University of Laos, between 10-13 September 2019. The aim of the activity was to: • Provide hands-on training on plywood and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) manufacturing to Valtip 3 team members (4) and 3rd- and 4th- year students from the Faculty of Forestry at the National University of Laos (8); • Prepare plywood and LVL panels (dimensions: 1.2 m x 1.2 m) from rubberwood and eucalyptus K7 using phenol-formaldehyde (PF) and long open time polyurethane (PUR) adhesives; • Prepare promotional and mechanical testing samples to assess the selected species and manufacturing conditions (material to be tested in November 2019).
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ItemEnhancing the knowledge of wood properties and processing characteristics of PNG timbers - Gluing characteristics of PNG timber species for various wood product applications( 2019-02-01)Gluing is considered one of the most important technologies in the production of value-added wood product. In the majority of wood products, both appearance (e.g. furniture, flooring) and structural (e.g. glue-laminated beams, plywood, LVL) timber elements are joined together into larger components through edge and surface laminating, finger jointing and other types of joints. In order to meet requirements and criteria for strength and performance of glued components and products a sound knowledge of gluing characteristics of PNG timbers is required. The present document presents the gluability behaviour of 24 species sourced from the Morobe and West New Britain provinces, Papua New Guinea. Seven species have been harvested from plantations and 17 from secondary forests. The group included 3 softwoods and 21 hardwoods. Two species, Eucalyptus pellita and Wau Beech (Magnolia tsiampacca) could not be assessed because of lack of enough timber. The report is based on activity 1.5 results which consisted in laboratory testing of glue-bond strength and performance of various types of glues for PNG selected timber species in various climatic conditions to simulate service conditions in potential market destinations. Two criteria, namely shear strength and wood failure, have been used to determine if a species can meet the minimum requirements for either dry use or wet use applications. Five species showed to bond very well i.e. achieved satisfactory results for both dry use and wet use applications: PNG Basswood (Endospermum medullosum), White Cheesewood (Alstonia scholaris), Erima (Octomeles sumatrana), Labula (Anthocephalus chinensis), and Klinki Pine (Araucaria hunsteinii). A second group of seven species provided results satisfying or able of satisfying the requirements for dry use applications: Grey Canarium (Canarium oleosum), Pencil Cedar (Palaquium warbargianum), Pangium (Pangium edule), Caribbean Pine (Pinus caribaea), Hoop Pine (Araucaria cunninghamii), PNG Quandong (Elaeocarpus sphaericus), Taun (Pometia pinnata), and Brown Terminalia (Terminalia brassii). Where PNG Boxwood (Xanthopyllum papuanum), Kwila (Intsia bijuga), PNG Mersawa (Anisoptera thurifera), PNG Rosewood (Pterocarpus indicus), and PNG Vitex (Vitex cofassus) could not meet the requirements for dry use applications using a standard cross-linking PVA, preliminary trials using a non-structural polyurethane showed they could possibly satisfy the requirements for dry use applications and even wet use applications in some cases (e.g. PNG Vitex). Two species classified under bond with difficulty, namely White Albizia (Falcataria moluccana) and Water Gum (Syzygium spp.), would most probably achieve satisfactory results (i.e. upgrade to bond well) with optimisation of gluing parameters. Four species provided low shear strength results and very limited wood failure resulting in them being classified as very difficult to bond: Blackbean (Castanospermum australe), Heavy Hopea (Hopea iriana), Kamarere (Eucalyptus deglupta), and Malas (Homalium foetidum). Not surprisingly, most of them are high or very high-density species which are known to be very difficult to bond. One species (Heavy Hopea) failed to meet the requirements for both dry and wet uses when using EPI. Such species would probably need some mechanical or chemical surface treatment to improve adhesion. Additional tests with dense species from 2nd batch i.e. Blackbean, Water Gum, Kamarere, and Malas would also be recommended to fully assess their suitability for non-structural applications.
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ItemEnhancing the knowledge of wood properties and processing characteristics of PNG timbers - Machining characteristics of PNG timber species( 2019-01-31)An intensive testing program has been conducted to assess the mechanical properties and other processing characteristics (e.g. gluing, treatability) of 26 PNG timber species. The present activity report presents the machinability behaviour of 25 species sourced from the Morobe and West New Britain provinces, Papua New Guinea. Eight species have been harvested from plantations and 17 from secondary forests. The group included 3 softwoods and 22 hardwoods. One species, Eucaliptus pellita, could not be assessed because of lack of enough timber. A total of 1,337 specimens and more than 3,600 linear meters of timber have been planed with a standard moulder machine and visually assessed by means of planing grading rules developed for the PNG wood processing industry. The grading system developed is based on the worst affected area of a machined surface (see Table 2 and Appendix 1). One or two people using sight and touch method have graded the planed surface. The defects checked for were torn grain, fuzzy grain, raised grain, chipped knife mark and knife mark. Between 32 to 76 specimens have been assessed per species with each specimen being dressed 3 times removing 1.6 mm every time. A total of 18 wood species proved to machine very well with more than 90% boards being graded either “excellent and requiring very light sanding” or “good and requiring light sanding”. Eight species from this group obtained a perfect score (i.e. 100%) across all three runs: • Hoop Pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) 100% • Kwila (Intsia bijuga) 100% • Labula (Anthocephalus chinensis) 100% • Malas (Homalium foetidum) 100% • Pangium (Pangium edule) 100% • PNG Rosewood (Pterocarpus indicus) 100% • PNG Mersawa (Anisoptera thurifera) 100% • White Cheesewood (Alstonia scholaris) 100% • Erima (Octomeles sumatrana) 99% • Pencil Cedar (Palaquium warbargianum) 99% • PNG Basswood (Endospermum medullosum) 99% • Water Gum (Syzygium spp.) 99% • Kamarere (Eucalyptus deglupta) 98% • Blackbean (Castanospermum australe) 97% • Brown Terminalia (Terminalia brassii) 97% • PNG Quandong (Elaeocarpus sphaericus) 97% • Wau Beech (Magnolia tsiampacca) 94% • Caribbean Pine (Pinus caribaea) 91% A second group consisting of PNG Vitex (Vitex cofassus), Grey Canarium (Canarium oleosum), Heavy Hopea (Hopea iriana), Klinki Pine (Araucaria hunsteinii), and PNG Boxwood (Xanthopyllum papuanum) machined moderately well with averages across all three machining runs ranging between 70% and 90%. Two species, namely White albizzia (Falcataria moluccana) and Taun (Pometia pinnata), proved to machine with difficulty with average scores of 64% and 57%, respectively.
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ItemEnhancing the knowledge of wood properties and processing characteristics of PNG timbers - Testing of Basic Physical & Mechanical Properties(Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, 2018-12-21)Six mechanical properties, namely flexural bending strength (MOR), stiffness (MOE), compression strength parallel and perpendicular to the grain, shear parallel to the grain, and hardness were evaluated for 26 PNG species using 2,641 small clear specimens from 130 trees. Heavy hopea (Hopea iriana) always offered the best mechanical properties of all selected species, providing significantly higher properties in all categories. Pellita (Eucalyptus pellita), Malas (Homalium foetidum), and Kwila (Intsia bijuga) are other species that usually performed significantly better than the average. PNG boxwood (Xanthopyllum papuanum), PNG mersawa (Anisoptera thurifera), and Blackbean (Castanospermum australe) usually performed above average. Erima (Octomeles sumatrana), White albizzia (Falcataria moluccana), PNG basswood (Endospermum medullosum), White cheesewood (Alstonia scholaris), Pencil cedar (Palaquium warbargianum), PNG quandong (Elaeocarpus sphaericus), and Wau beech (Magnolia tsiampacca) usually offered mechanical testing results below the average of the selected species. The impact of the position in the tree on the selected mechanical properties has also been assessed. Stiffness and bending strength tend to decrease or remain unchanged along the stem across all studied species. While shear and hardness testing results showed a similar trend to a lesser extent, the position in the tree had a much more limited impact on the compression strength properties. Further experiments where sampling would consider the radial position within the tree might accentuate observed trends. Therefore, segregating logs based on the position in the tree could be of interest where desired timber mechanical properties and costs associated with segregating is justifying optimum mechanical properties for the intended end use. The mechanical properties of species obtained from plantations and regrowth forests were lower than those found in the literature from old‐growth forests. Different factors including the size of specimens tested, the amount and provenance of tested material, and some adaptive traits for tropical tree species might explain some differences. However, comparisons of mechanical testing results with other recent studies tend to confirm a reduction of physical and mechanical properties when comparing with timbers from old‐growth forests.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableTechnical Report for Maton Guitars( 2018-07-17)The present report outlined below forms part of ACIAR project FST/2016/151 – Advancing enhanced wood manufacturing industries in Laos and Australia. As part of the project, the University of Melbourne (UoM) and Department of Agriculture Fisheries (DAF) project staff work with Maton Guitars (MG) on various R&D areas nominated by MG that align with the objectives of FST/2016/151. Overall, the main research focus is on enhancing kiln drying efficiencies and utilisation of alternative species in their guitar manufacture. MG has identified the following specific sub-project as a high priority: Improving kiln drying efficiency and best practice. This will include assisting in setting up best practice drying for new kiln investments and running drying trials to improve drying efficiency and consistency. The report presents the results of moisture content profile and residual drying stress tests. The tests were conducted on blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) resawn billets taken from a batch which showed distortion. The ACIAR team conducted detailed moisture gradient testing and residual drying stress tests of 5 billets.
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ItemWood waste reduction and waste utilization( 2015)Improving wood manufacturing efficiency is complex. Material loss is occurring all along the process chain and obtaining sustainable results requires determination. There are not many quick solutions. Nevertheless, the more is achieved usually the more opportunities open up and good economic and business practices can be observed as those improvements are sustained. Developing a wood waste reduction and waste utilisation plan to prevent or minimize the production of residues should always be one of the first targets when trying to improve manufacturing efficiency. Waste minimisation and resource maximisation for manufactured products can be done everywhere from design stage to the inventory management and storage. Having the right design and using optimised cutting patterns can help avoiding situations such as over-processing raw material. Once the designing step is optimised it is possible to start implementing new practises. The degree of benefit that results from implementing waste reduction opportunities is highly dependent upon the operations. Business can usually minimize the amount of waste through proper education and training while improving their economic viability. At this stage, good communication with the entire workforce in a company is essential for a successful implementation. The quality of raw material used and the equipment at your disposition are others elements which require attention. Using better raw materials generally reduces the production of waste because it does not require as much time to sort it out and process it. Another key element in any successful improvement process is a sustainable, practical measurement system. Quality control is a simple way to know if what has been done the right way or not. Quality control is a simple tool to increase productivity and reduce waste. Monitoring a manufacturing process can ensure that the number of reject batches is kept to a minimum and help develop and maintain a maintenance schedule. Nonetheless, even the best manufacturing process creates wastes. In this case, turning wastes into valuable wood products becomes the main focus. The following pages aim to provide information on the best practises and strategies for long term business growth and increase wood manufacturing efficiency.