Wood properties and quality

Wood is expected to play an ever growing role in world markets, substituting materials such as concrete, steel or aluminium. At FOBAWI we are interested in understanding how wood structure and consequently wood properties can be influenced by silvicultural management and environmental factors. In this way, we hope to optimize wood utilization and value. Our interest in studying wood attributes spans from the molecular scale to the finish product level:

• Analysis of cell wall ultrastructure as probed by viscoelastic testing and rheological modeling
• Traditional wood properties (physical, mechanical properties, durability, esthetics) and their impact on primary conversion processes
• Non destructive evaluation (NDE) methods and timber quality

Current research projects in the working group Wood Properties and Quality.

picture: Ohnesorge, 2009