Engineered Wood Journal - Spring 2009 - (Page 18) products industry. This research has attracted a lot of attention and has recently received funding from both Western Economic Diversification and the Northern Development Initiative Trust. The current Terahertz project is a partnership between: • Deltech Manufacturing Inc. • The University of Northern British Columbia • The College of New Caledonia • A&DI ntegrations • Western Economic Diversification Canada • The Northern Development Initiatives Trust • Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada The first phase of the initiative was to identify potential value of the technology in the wood products industry. Several viable applications were found in engineered wood products, dimensional lumber and in the pulp and paper industries. The second phase of the project was a technical feasibility study, which determined that the unique characteristics of terahertz technology would be best suited to a first application study in the oriented strand board industry. Terahertz Technology in the OSB Manufacturing Process The production of OSB involves converting a log into dried wafers, or “flakes.” Flakes are aligned on a forming line to generate a mat, which is pressed at high temperature with adhesives and pressure to form the boards themselves. Each OSB panel consists of four separate layers: a top and bottom in which the flakes are aligned and face forwards, and two core layers where the flakes are aligned and face sideways. The structural strength properties are derived from the overall density of the board (the amount of flakes used) and the orientation of the flakes in the two directions. Because raw materials, including the wood used, form a large percentage of total production costs in the OSB process, it is desirable to minimize the amount of raw materials used. The reduction of materials is limited by the need for the finished OSB panels to meet performance standards, which provide a baseline of performance in regulated markets. These standards are met in part by statistical sampling of the product (after production), usually in off-line quality control tests involving the manual testing of board strength. It is both the overall density and fibre orientation of the strands imparted by the formers that lead to the strength of the finished product. It is therefore desirable to OSB manufacturers to have the capability to measure and control these two parameters on the mat before the press. Technologies have been developed to measure density, including X-ray and mechanical measurement techniques, but these measurement tools do not have the capability to measure the fibre orientation (or direction of the strands). Attempts have been made to measure fibre orientation using visible profiling and other techniques that are restricted to examining the surface of the mat. Since the mat has a large thickness, this lack of transparency has to a large degree limited these types of fibre orientation measurement techniques. The transparency of the mat at THz frequencies allows an average measurement of density as the radiation is transmitted through an OSB board. The characteristics of the THz radiation transmitted through the board can be used to produce an image of the density profile Saving You Space In All the Right Places! Customized Handling Solutions The Combilift has been designed and engineered as a forklift specifically for the handling of long loads. In the lumber industry, Combilift can guarantee considerable improvements in space utilization when compared to a conventional counterbalance forklift. With capacities ranging from 5,000 to 30,000lb, it’s a safe choice to go with Combilift. Improved Storage Utilization Safer Product Handling Increased Productivity Less Product Damage All-Wheel Hydrostatic Drive Multi-Directional Capability In-Door, Out-Door Capability Diesel / LPG Call today to schedule a FREE site survey. 877-COMBi-56 COMBiLiFT USA Global Leader in Multi-Directional Forklifts 877-266-2456 e-mail: info@COMBiLift.com 303 Concord Street • Greensboro, NC 27406 18 Engineered Wood Journal • Spring 2009 http://www.combilift.com
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