BBE 4412/5412 Manufacturing and Applications of Bio-based Products (4 credits)

Catalog Description:	Manufacturing processes and end-use applications of bio-based products
Prerequisites:	BB 1001, Upper division BBE
Class/Laboratory Schedule:	Meet 2x per week: ~2 hours class and 3 hours class and lab period
Location:	TBA
Instructors:	Robert Seavey and Harlan Petersen
Text:	Texts: - Engineered Wood Products. Stephen Smulski - Drying Hardwood Lumber Denig, Wengert and Simpson - Forest Products and Wood Science Bowyer Shmulsky and Haygreen - Wood Handbook - Selected readings - Selected handouts / packets
Grading:	Student Performance Assessment: Home Work; Exams; Class Participation Graduate Credit: Students taking the course for graduate credit will be required to answer additional questions in exams and/or graduate student project

Course Objectives

By completing this course students should be able to:

Understand and describe equipment and processes used to produce, dried surfaced lumber and processes other solid wood products from softwood and hardwood logs.
1. sawmilling operations
2. dry kiln operations
3. planing and surfacing operations
Understand and describe the equipment and operations used in manufacturing secondary wood products such as windows, cabinets, fixtures and other millwork.
Understand and describe the equipment and operations used in manufacturing wood-based composite products including plywood, particleboard, oriented strand board, laminated veneer lumber, I-joists and so forth.
Understand and describe the types adhesives used in manufacturing wood products and composites.
Understand the major issues related to wood and bio-based composite applications.

Course Outline

Week 1
- Course introduction; overview of wood products manufacturing;
  assessment of industry trends.
  - History of industry
  - Aggregate industry
  - Sectors of the industry
- Resources for wood products - domestic species and imported species forestry considerations related to wood products manufacturing
  - Basic dendrology
  - Consideration of property differences plantation grown trees versus normal growth
Week 2
- Cell wall structure and moisture movement in wood;
- Fluid penetration into wood: preservativetreatment and moisture uptake of
  wood in service
- Specific gravity and void volume calculations;
- Shrinkage and swelling (stabilization);
- Equilibrium moisture content; environment factors in wood product performance
- Creep in wood: mechanosorptive versus viscoelastic models.
Week 3
- Sawmill design and layout; process flow in softwood lumber manufacturing
  - Tour of softwood mill (if possible)
Week 4
- Hardwood rough mill layout, machining of lumber products
  - Tour of hardwood rough mill and dry kiln facilities
Week 5
- Moisture content calculations; moisture meters and psychrometrics; lumber drying,
- Kiln design, drying technology, kiln schedules and rationale, drying stresses, sets and conditioning treatments
Week 6
- Manufacture of plywood products: veneering technology; drying of veneers for plywood;
- Adhesive application and hot press design and parameters
- Consideration of the many different types of plywood products that go into secondary manufacturing
- Possible field trip to Navy Island or guest speaker (Jeff Stone or Mike Quirk) to the different types of decorative veneers that are available
Week 7
- Introduction to particleboard manufacturing. Overview of the particleboard industry and evolution of particleboard markets over the past 50 years.
- Chipping and flaking of logs or furnish.
- MDF (medium density fiberboard) manufacturing process and parameters
- Strawboard manufacturing and products and markets
- Laminate products used with particleboard: overlays, melamine, the process of manufacturing these products, and the markets served
Week 8
- Adhesive choices and adhesive application.
- Adhesive issues related to particle size, adhesive chemistry, and product design.
- Differences between exterior adhesives and interior adhesives.
  - Consider guest speaker to present the industry development of adhesives and the design considerations (H.B. Fuller or 3M)
Week 9
- Forming particleboard mats prior to hot pressing.
- Orienting particles for oriented strand board.
- Vertical particle size distribution for interior particleboard products.
- Hot pressing of oriented strand board and particleboard products.
- Presentation about the secondary manufacturing industry in Minnesota: concerning the resources needed by this industry as well as the markets which this industry services
Week 10
- Review and summary of plywood, particleboard and oriented strand board manufacturing.
- Introduction and manufacturing of laminated veneer lumber and parallel strand lumber.
- Manufacturing process for I-joists; floor trusses and roof trusses
- Preferred markets for manufactured lumber products. Market growth and product acceptance of manufactured lumber products.
- Technology and manufacture of wood-cement siding and roofing products.
- Introduction to wood-plastic composites. Manufacturing technology of wood-plastic composites.
- Use of wood-plastic composites in window manufacture (Tour of Andersen Renewal facility - if allowed)
Week 11
- Application issues for lumber and treated lumber products.
- Alternatives for framing and structural composition for the residential market: 2x4 and 2x6 framing, steel framing, cement block, post and beam construction, heavy timber construction, structurally-insulated-panels, and others.
- Evaluation criteria to use when evaluating each of these alternatives: insulating, permeability, moisture durability, and so forth.
- Issues related to moisture content of framing lumber: RWE concerns, drying (and warp) while in the wall cavity, excessive moisture added to new house due to drying of framing lumber.
- Adsorption and desorption of wood products in service (stabilization procedures - PEG and so forth).
- Truss performance in service: explanation of the truss uplift problems.
Week 12
- Application issues related to sheathing alternatives. Alternatives would include: sawn lumber, plywood, insulation board, extruded foam insulation, and oriented strand board.
- Evaluation criteria should be considered: insulating, permeability, durability, strength and so forth.
- Moisture durability and testing of durability (ASTM and APA tests) will be considered in some detail.
- Product performance and product liability considerations will be addressed. Discussion of "second generation OSB - improved durability designs for OSB products.
Week 13
- Application issues related to exterior cladding.
  - Solid wood siding
  - Plywood siding
  - Hardboard siding
  - OSB siding
  - Stucco
  - Brick
  - Vinyl / aluminum/ steel
  - Cement-fiber composites
- Alternatives for exterior cladding will be listed and evaluated (evaluation criteria).
- Durability and moisture sensitivity will be addressed for exterior cladding.
- Application of finishing systems to preserve wood, especially wood exposed to exterior conditions.
- Product performance and product liability considerations will be described.
Week 14
- Durability of window units: moisture movement and product design for window units
- Consideration of different materials for making windows: solid wood, laminated wood veneer, and wood-plastic composites, vinyl, and others
- Decking products: alternative products (redwood, cedar, treated wood, wood-plastic composites) and durability of these products for decking
Week 15
- Industrial markets and emerging markets for wood and wood-based composites.
- Durability of wood-plastic composites.
- Creep in wood composites and creep in wood-plastic products.
- Analysis of trends toward bio-based composites and the product performance considerations.
- Consideration of strategies for success in building materials: return to proven, traditional materials; investment in new and innovative processing technology; or selective adaptation of promising innovation and proven building methods.

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