Selected physical and mechanical properties of twelve-year old garden teak in Ghana

This research aims to investigate the situation of consumers purchasing teak products and decision to buy teak product in LuangPrabang. Using a questionnaire to gather data from a sample group of 380 individuals who have purchased teak products. And using the SPSS program to analyze the percentage of these consumers. The results of the study found that the situation when buying teak wood products is: ceiling edge 98.68%, ceiling wood 92.10%, kitchen cabinet 69.21%, chair 55.26%, table 54.73%, stairs 53.94%,bed 52.89%, plane wood 52.63%, door edge 47.36%, window frame 28.68%, door frame 26.31%, pillar wood 9.21%, air intake 6.57%, and finally sofa 4.73%. Expenses for more than 5 million kip cover 68.80%, 3 to 5 million cover 78.00%, 1 to 3 million cover 70.00%, and lower than 1 million kip cover 54.80%. 95% of buyers choose to buy in front of the store, 59% call to order for the store to pick up and deliver, and 49% order online. The study also found that 95% of the reasons are because rose wood or led wood is hard to find and the price is expensive; 65% of Luang Prabang is still plentiful of teak; there is a lot of teak wood; and teak wood is beautiful and lighter than other wood; and 35% because there is no choice.Result also found that the factors that making consumers decide to buy teak products are quality, appearance, easy to find and purchase, price and detail of the product with a statistical significance level of less than .05.

Kayu merupakan bagian penting dalam pembuatan konstruksi bangunan. Salah satu jenis kayu yang paling banyak digunakan adalah kayu jati. Jati (Tectona grandis L.f.) merupakan salah satu jenis kayu yang paling banyak diminati sejak dahulu dan memiliki harga jual yang tinggi karena memiliki corak yang unik dan elegan, kuat, awet, stabil, dan mudah dikerjakan. Kayu jati di Indonesia yang dikenal memiliki sifat dasar baik dan memiliki kualitas yang baik yaitu kayu jati yang berasal dari hutan produksi Perhutani yang berada di daerah Jawa. Namun, selain di pulau Jawa kayu jati juga terdapat di daerah lain seperti di Sumbawa Nusa Tenggara Barat yang sesuai untuk pertumbuhan jati karena memiliki musim kering tetap selama tujuh bulan. Sifat mekanika kayu merupakan sifat yang berhubungan dengan kekuatan kayu untuk menahan gaya luar yang bekerja pada kayu tersebut. Sifat ini penting untuk dijadikan sebagai bahan struktural seperti konstruksi bangunan. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode eksperimen yaitu suatu metode penelitian yang digunakan untuk mencari pengaruh variabel tertentu terhadap variabel yang lain. Rancangan penelitian yang digunakan Rancangan Acak Lengkap (RAL) variasi aksial dengan 3 perlakuan dan 3 kali ulangan. Berdasarkan hasil analisisi diperoleh nilai rata-rata sifat fisika dan mekanika jati Sumbawa sebagai berikut: kadar air kering udara sebesar 16,09%: berat jenis kering udara 16,09; MoE sebesar 97.417,31 kg/cm2; MoR 809,27 kg/cm2. Berdasarkan hasil pengujian sifat fisika dan mekanika maka kayu Jati (Tectona grandis L.f.) Sumbawa termasuk dalam kelas kuat II-III yang dapat dimanfaatkan sebagai bahan konstruksi bangunan, bahan baku mebel, kusen-kusen dan kerajinan kayu lainnya. Characteristics of the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Sumbawa Teak Wood as a Construction Material Abstract Wood is an important part in building construction. One of the most widely used types of wood is teak wood. Teak (Tectona grandis L.f.) is a type of wood that has been in high demand for a long time and has a high selling price because it has a unique and elegant pattern, is strong, durable, stable and easy to work with. Teak wood in Indonesia which is known to have good basic properties and good quality is teak wood which comes from Perhutani production forests in the Java area. However, apart from the island of Java, teak wood is also found in other areas such as Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, which is suitable for growing teak because it has a constant dry season of seven months. The mechanical properties of wood are properties related to the strength of wood to withstand external forces acting on the wood. This property is important for use as a structural material such as building construction. This research uses an experimental method, namely a research method used to find the influence of certain variables on other variables. The research design used was a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with axial variation with 3 treatments and 3 replications. Based on the results of the analysis, the average values ??for the physical and mechanical properties of Sumbawa teak were obtained as follows: air-dry water content of 16.09%: air-dry specific gravity of 16.09; MoE of 97,417.31 kg/cm2; MoR 809.27 kg/cm2. Based on the results of tests on physical and mechanical properties, Sumbawa teak (Tectona grandis L.f.) wood is included in the strength class II-III which can be used as building construction materials, raw materials for furniture, frames and other wooden crafts.

The pultruded jute/phenolic composites were aged under various humidity, hydrothermal and weathering conditions. Aging-induced effect of these conditions on the jute profiles was studied in terms of their physico-mechanical properties. It is observed that dimensional change of the profiles was only upto 4% even in an accelerated water aging condition. The effect of absorbed moisture/water on the jute profile was more pronounced in an accelerated water aging than the samples are being exposed to high humidity and alternate wetting and drying cycles. The changes in the values of internal bond strength of the profiles could be used as an indicator because of its sensitivity towards aging. Accentuation of fibres on the weathered samples along with severe resin erosion has suggested to layer the surface of the profiles with rich resin prior to use in the outdoor. The properties of jute profile door frame were satisfactory when compared with the requirements mentioned in IS: 4021–83 – Indian standard specification for timber door, window and ventilator frames. Performance of the installed door frame has shown no sign of dimensional instability in terms of warping and bulging after 3 years. It is suggested that jute door frames could be used as an alternative to the wooden door frames in buildings.

An investigation of selected properties of teak wood from 9-year-old plantation in Indonesia. Teak (Tectona grandis L.f) listed in standard EN 13556:2003 (code TEGR) is known as the most popular species in tropical countries, especially in Indonesia. It has not only good qualities in physical properties and mechanical properties, but it also has an aesthetics pattern. The best teak wood is usually more than 80 years old. It is too long a period of time and cannot fulfil the current wood demand. To fulfil the increasing demand, researchers in Indonesia have developed short rotation teak wood. However, the quality of this wood is rather low. The objectives of this study were to obtain complete information about mechanical, physical and acoustic properties of 9-year-old teak wood, to compare its properties with conventional teak wood and to evaluate the optimal utilization of 9 years-old teak wood based on its properties.

Wood physical and mechanical properties in seven tropical hardwood species viz., Acacia auriculiformis A. Cunn. ex Benth., Artocarpus hirsutus Lamk., Artocarpus heterophyllus Lamk., Swietenia macrophylla King, Xylia dolabriformis Benth., Hevea braziliensis (H.B.K.) M. A.), and Tectona grandis L.f. have been studied by means of destructive and non-destructive techniques (NDT). Mechanical strength properties and specific gravity were evaluated by conventional methods. NDT was carried out by a Pilodyn and Treesonic Microsecond Timer (TMT) to measure a steel pin penetration depth into wood and dynamic MOE, respectively. In focus was the question, whether NDT data are suitable predictors for physical and mechanical properties of the indicated hardwood species. Dynamic MOE obtained by TMT correlated strongly positive with all the strength properties studied, except shearing stress. TMT data also correlated very well to static bending MOE and MOR. A linear relationship was found between Pilodyn steel pin penetration depth and oven dry specific gravity in all the species. Both Pilodyn and TMT proved to be useful predictors of timber properties, and these instruments have a high potential for timber grading.

Regrowth forests in Indonesia have eesentially been developed since several centuries ago particularly in Java for the luxury timber species such as teak ( Tectona grandis) , rasamala ( Altingia excelsea), Sonokeling ( Dalbergia latifolia), mahoni ( Swietenia spp.), etc. In this system the young plantation always have surplus trees which are likely to cause overcrowding and furthermore reducing the growth of bigger trees. Accordingly, at certain ages (depending on species, site class, etc.) the surplus trees are thinned out regularly throughout the planting cycle to achieve a maximum timber yield. Each thinning will produce a plenty of small-sized logs which are generally considered too small for sawmills or plymills. Such logs are commonly used for firewood or other low value products, or even left to rot in the forest floor. This study investigated a technical possibility of turning the waste wood into useful interior products, such as table top, furniture blanks, window and door frames, etc. Thinned logs of two wood species, tusam ( Pinus merkusii) and damar (Agathis lorantifolia) collected from a government company plantation in West Java were used in this study. Procedures of saving logs into boards, drying and further machining processes were basically undertaken according to the convetional practices. Furniture blanks, table tops and large planks were manufactured by side-jointing and or laminating thin boards with a simple clamping procedures. Polyvinyl acetate and resorcinol formaldehyde adhesives were uesd for constructing blanks and planks respectively. The results revealed thar interior products made up from the thinned logs possessed a comparable characteristics to those made from mature timbers. Table tops and blanks built from three layers of laminates gave a better concictency in shape and straightness than the one layer side joint panels.

In the construction project, rock mass is often destroyed from the joint plane, and the jointed rock mass is easy to be eroded by freeze-thaw environment. Therefore, the damage mechanical properties of filled jointed rock mass under freeze-thaw action are very important for construction disaster prevention, engineering safety evaluation and reinforcement. In order to research the effect of the freeze-thaw cycle on the mechanical deterioration properties and damage characteristics of filled jointed rocks, prefabricated filled jointed rock samples are tested with different numbers of freeze-thaw cycles under the temperature range of -20°C~20°C. Then the wave velocity test, static compression test and SHPB impact test are conducted on the rock samples after freeze-thaw. Based on the test results, the change regularity of wave velocity degradation, static compression mechanical properties and dynamic compression mechanical properties of filled jointed rocks under the effect of freeze-thaw cycles were analyzed. The results show that the wave velocity, static compressive strength and dynamic compressive strength of the filled jointed rocks all show a downtrend with the increase of the number of freeze-thaw cycles, and each parameter is positively correlated with the strength of the filling materials. Among them, the decrease in the wave velocity of the rock sample after 30 freeze-thaw cycles is greater than 30%, and the strength loss of the static peak compressive strength exceeds half of its initial strength. The static peak strain rises exponentially with the increase of the number of freeze-thaw cycles while the dynamic peak strain does not show a clear trend. The dynamic peak strain is about 1/10 to 1/5 of the static peak strain. Under the same freeze-thaw action, the lower the strength of filling material, the more serious the damage.

To improve thermal and acoustic insulation between the outside (O) and the inside (I) of a structure having windows or doors therethrough, stationary frames (10, 12; 52, 54) are secured to the building, retaining movable window or door frames (2). The stationary frames include two metal rails (10, 12; 52, 54), one (10, 52) of the frames being located at the outside (O) of the building and the other (12, 54) at the inside (I) of the building. The inner and outer rails are separated from each other by a double-walled chambered strip (14) having first and second elongated strip portions connected by cross ribs (21, 22, 23) which, therebetween, define chambers (17-20). The chambers are serially located in a direction of thermal gradient between the outside and the inside of the building and arranged in stepped or Z-shaped configuration. The chambered strips are rigidly connected at lateral portions thereof with the inside and outside rails, for example by interengaging, interlocking arrangements including interfitting dovetail-shaped portions.

This study was carried out as an investigation into concrete products as an appropriate alternative for plastic, rubble stone and steel in the construction of domestic water tanks, door and window frames in the Rwandan construction industry. This project is an innovation aimed at adding value to the available resources of materials and personnel to expose untapped opportunities that are beneficial to the Rwandan community and the world in general through conservation of the environment and creation of employment. In a similar sense, this effort responds to the result of too much consumption of wood products in this rapidly growing infrastructure sector and calls for alternatives such as concrete in construction of door and window frames .In order to answer the research objectives, the researchers opted to observe, carry out demonstrations/ modeling, views of the end users of the product especially for water tanks. Data gathered from this research instrument were then computed and interpreted. Along with primary data, the researchers also made use of secondary resources in the form of published articles and literatures to support the survey results. Curved interlocking concrete blocks are affordable, environment friendly, labour intensive and use locally available materials, adoptable by both the rural and urban settings, uses local materials and uses local labour hence providing employment. At the end, these products were compared with conventional materials for their costs and maintenance. The results show promise as new construction material suitable for use in Rwanda. However, use of concrete for door and window frames is new to Rwanda and should further be investigated for adoptability.

This study aims to conduct the value of modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) where the flexural strength is one of the highest mechanical properties compared with other mechanical properties. The method used is a flexural strength test using a three-point loading test, whereas for specific gravity and moisture content using the drill method. The materials used in this study are Bangkirai, Teak, Camphor, Sukun, and Coconut wood. The results of this study indicate that the moisture content is directly proportional to the value of MOR and MOE, except for the MOE of Coconut wood. The specific gravity is linear with MOE, except for MOR and MOE (coconut and teak wood).

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is an innovative engineering wood product made by gluing layers of solid-sawn lumber at perpendicular angles. The commonly used wood species for CLT manufacturing include spruce-pine-fir (SPF), douglas fir-larch, and southern pine lumber. With the hope of broadening the wood species for CLT manufacturing, the purposes of this study include evaluating the mechanical properties of black spruce CLT and analyzing the influence of CLT thickness on its bending or shear properties. In this paper, bending, shear, and compressive tests were conducted respectively on 3-layer CLT panels with a thickness of 105 mm and on 5-layer CLT panels with a thickness of 155 mm, both of which were fabricated with No. 2-grade Canadian black spruce. Their bending or shear resisting properties as well as the failure modes were analyzed. Furthermore, comparison of mechanical properties was conducted between the black spruce CLT panels and the CLT panels fabricated with some other common wood species. Finally, for both the CLT bending panels and the CLT shear panels, their numerical models were developed and calibrated with the experimental results. For the CLT bending panels, results show that increasing the CLT thickness whilst maintaining identical span-to-thickness ratios can even slightly reduce the characteristic bending strength of the black spruce CLT. For the CLT shear panels, results show that increasing the CLT thickness whilst maintaining identical span-to-thickness ratios has little enhancement on their characteristic shear strength. For the CLT bending panels, their effective bending stiffness based on the Shear Analogy theory can be used as a more accurate prediction on their experiment-based global bending stiffness. The model of the CLT bending specimens is capable of predicting their bending properties; whereas, the model of the CLT shear specimens would underestimate their ultimate shear resisting capacity due to the absence of the rolling shear mechanism in the model, although the elastic stiffness can be predicted accurately. Overall, it is attested that the black spruce CLT can provide ideal bending or shear properties, which can be comparable to those of the CLT fabricated with other commonly used wood species. Besides, further efforts should focus on developing a numerical model that can consider the influence of the rolling shear mechanism.

The aim of this work was to unveil how a family-owned business impacts change management within a Brazilian family business in the door and window frame industry, located in the São Paulo State. In order to meet that goal, a unique case study was carried out along with a quantitative analysis. A structured questionnaire with close-ended questions was chosen for collecting data, which was composed of 35 questions devoted to factors hindering business changes and 4 questions on sociodemographic issues. The Likert scale of 5 points was chosen. Data were collected by using Google Forms and processed at BioEstat 5.4 software. Qualitative variables were presented by means of absolute and relative frequency distributions, whereas quantitative variables were displayed by using measures of central tendency and dispersion. This study analyzed the factors inhibiting internal organizational change and identified the employee’s awareness of communication and information issues, organization strategy, and internal/external environments. In conclusion, there are some change hindering factors according to the data from the examined sample, such as information not reaching the employees and business units on time, difficulty in adjusting strategy to the external environment, and poor capabilities in handling the pressures arising from it.KeywordsChange managementFamily businessChange hindering factors

GF reinforced polymer composites to improve the mechanical properties by increasing fiber content, but there is a limit. On the contrary, CF reinforced polymer composites are superior to the GF composites at a lower CF content in tensile and bending properties. However, CF is more expensive than GF. In this study, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) was reinforced with single and hybrid reinforcing of glass fibers (GF) and carbon fibers (CF). The composites consisting of GF/ABS, CF/ABS and GF/CF/ABS were fabricated by direct fiber feeding injection molding (DFFIM). The reinforcing fiber was directly fed at the vent hole of the barrel in the DFFIM process. The effects of fiber Tex, fiber numbers and processing parameters on properties of the composites were investigated. Tensile, bending and Izod impact testing was conducted to compare mechanical properties of GF/ABS composites, CF/ABS composites and hybrid GF/CF/ABS composites. Morphology of the composites was observed by scanning electron microscopy. In addition, the cost advantage of each composite was compared with their mechanical properties. From the results, the addition of carbon fiber improved tensile, bending and impact properties of the hybrid composites. SEM photographs indicated that carbon fiber tended to agglomerate during the DFFIM process. The hybrid GF/CF/ABS composites presented an equivalent improvement in tensile and bending properties as compared to the CF/ABS composites. It can be noted that the low CF content was suitable for enhanced mechanical performances of the hybrid GF/CF/ABS composites. Therefore, the hybrid composites can be manufactured at a low cost as compared to the similar mechanical properties of the CF/ABS composites.

Throughout the 1990s, plastics consumption in building materials was forecast to grow at a 4–5% average annual rate. Contributing to this growth were advances in do‐it‐yourself and professional remodeling products employing plastics, overall growth in the renovation and home remodeling markets, plus the increased penetration of plastics at the expense of traditional materials in building products because of their superior strength in weight performance, corrosion resistance, environmental stability, lower cost, insulation properties, and ability to fabricate complex designs into a single part, ie, low labor assembly intensity. On the other hand, there were concerns over their flammability and smoke toxicity, and the public perception of their negative environmental impact. The physical properties of plastics that are important in building materials are the glass‐transition or melt temperature, ease of processing as indicated by the temperatures and pressures needed for molding, heat deflection temperature, uv stability, tensile and impact strength, oxidative degradation, creep set, fatigue, and elongation. Density, thermal conductivity, and fire resistance are important for foams. Phenolics are consumed at roughly half the volume of PVC, and all other plastics are consumed in low volume quantities, mostly in single application niches, unlike workhorse resins such as PVC, phenolic, urea–melamine, and polyurethane. Except for the potential role of recycled engineering plastics in certain applications, the competitive nature of this market and the emphasis placed on end use economics indicates that commodity plastics will continue to dominate in consumption. The most dynamic growth among important sector resins has been seen with phenolic, acrylic, polyurethane, LLDPE/LDPE,PVC, and polystyrene. Over 60% of the total plastics volume for building materials is consumed for pipes, fittings, conduit, and wood bonding applications. Other important applications include solar heating, glazing, exterior trim, door and window frames, insulation, panels and siding, and flooring (additional 25%). With regard to plastics, urea–formaldehyde insulating foams have received the greatest publicity. In the early to mid‐1980s, they were studied for their formaldehyde release, ie, outgassing. The U.S. EPA has set an acceptable level of formaldehyde within indoor air at 0.1 ppm. Another potential source of formaldehyde release in buildings is from the binder systems used in pressed wood products such as particle board. Smoke, not flames, is the primary cause of death in most fires. However, past efforts to determine which building product components generate the most harmful or toxic smoke emissions have proven inconclusive. Plastic building products almost always incorporate additive such as colorants, plasticizers, uv light stabilizers, and flame retardants. These various additives are under increasing scrutiny for their potential risks with regard to smoke toxicity and their effects upon worker health in processing plants. The plastic building materials industry is facing rapid change. Engineering thermoplastics have better mechanical properties than commodity plastics. Thermoplastics can be combined with fibers, fillers, and traditional building materials, creating composite materials with durability, fireproofing, and stress resistance. A very high price and performance family of polymers called liquid crystal polymers (LCPs) exhibit extremely high mechanical and thermal properties. As their ease of processing and price improve, they may find application in thin‐wall, high strength parts. Thermoset polyurethane as a binder material for gravel systems is also under development. Certain state highway authorities are studying the use of fiber‐reinforced polymers for bridge construction.

Polymer composites reinforced with jute fiber have been widely used in window and door frames, biogas cylinders, furniture, suitcases, helmets, automobile and railway coach interiors, boats, etc. Human hair is a versatile material that has been identified as having significant potential for use as a reinforcement in composites because of its excellent material properties. This article deals with the reinforcement of jute and human hair in epoxy matrix–based composites. Composites fabricated with constant volume fractions but with five different fiber ratios of jute and human hair were studied. Analysis of physical, mechanical, and thermal properties was made on the fabricated Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites (NFRPCs). The results showed an increase in the mechanical properties with an increase in human hair content in the composite. The tensile, flexural, and double shear strength of the composite with 25 % human hair obtained was 23.45, 80.83, and 44.25 MPa, respectively, whereas 25 % jute fiber–reinforced composite shows 13.69, 61.63, and 28.25 MPa, respectively. The properties of jute fiber composites were increased when adding the human hair with jute fiber in the ratio of 18.75:6.25, 12.5:12.5, and 6.25:18.75 percentage of jute fiber and human hair, respectively. From moisture analysis of the composites, it was observed that increasing the human hair content with matrix caused a decrease in the absorptivity of the composite. From thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), composite with 25 % jute fiber showed the final degradation temperature at 480.12°C, whereas for 25 % human hair, composite obtained at 450.12°C. TGA showed a proportionate increase in thermal stability with increase in jute fiber content of the composites.