Wood - Material and Realisation

Aim

The aim of this course is for the student to obtain thorough knowledge about wood as a material. Tree growth, wooden structure and properties, its microstructure, strength, and relation to water. The student must also obtain knowledge of the most important Scandinavian wood species and be able to describe and identify these. In addition to a good knowledge of solid wood, the student should also have knowledge of many of the wood-based materials, wood composites and cellulose-based materials. The student to obtain thorough knowledge of wood production and how to manufacture a wooden product. The student should know how different wood materials are processed, joined and surface treated. The student should know the various manufacturing and automation processes that are used in wood industry such as drying, sawing, laminating, bending, molding, etc.

It is important that the student gets a good picture of Swedish wood manufacturing industry, how it works and what challenges it faces, both in terms of large-scale and small-scale production. The student should also be able to argue for and against wood compared to other materials when looking at production processes and energy consumption, flexibility and lead times, tooling costs, finish treatments, etc.

Content

The course content consists of some interconnected parts:

• Trees - Where and how they grow and their physical structure.
• Wood - Anatomy, microstructure, physical properties.
• Forestry, sawing, and drying wood.
• Water and wood – moisture relations and how wood dries.
• Why wood? Ethics, environment, recycling, emissions, differences to other groups of materials.
• Wood-based materials - particle/fiber boards - lightweight panels - modern wood - cellulose based materials.
• Wood products – Material selection, mechanical requirements, joining methods, adhesives, and surface treatment.
• Wood production - machining, sanding, lacquering, bending, and mold-forming.
• Swedish Wood Manufacturing Industry - Orientation, products, exports and imports, its development and importance for Sweden.
• Why wood? - How does the production methods of wood differ compared to other materials?

Theory in the subjects above will also be sought for individually and presented both orally and in seminar reports. Then students will then immerse themselves into a subject that they present to the other students. Some of the lecturers will be performed by experts from industry and other relevant organizations. The course includes a project where the students will manufacture a specific product based on given conditions. The goal for the project is a complete product and to this a report describing the industrial production of the same product.