Wood Technology Laboratory
The Wood Technology Laboratory at Burnley Campus is equipped with a wide range of dedicated equipment for researchers and postgraduate students to undertake studies on the physical and mechanical properties of wood species, wood composites, and the performance and durability of wood products.
Instron Universal Testing Machine
Designed for testing the mechanical properties of solid, composite, and engineered wood products and assessing bondline strength. The machine is equipped with a 50 kN load cell and most standard tools and fixtures (bending, tension, compression, compression-shearing, hardness).
Hot and cold laboratory press
Tonnage: 25 tons
Platens: 23 cm x 30 cm with a daylight of 13 cm
Temperature: ambient to 315°C
Semi-Industrial Press
Designed to apply a vertical or horizontal (or both) load to laminated workpieces (up to 3 m long, 1.5 m high, and 30 cm wide) and equipped with pressure load cells to monitor the pressing pressure.
Conveyor and Air Brush Spaying System
Designed to treat wood products with chemicals/coating systems in a controlled environment to ensure repeatability (e.g. water-soluble chemical solutions, preservatives, fire-retardants).
QUV Accelerated Weathering Unit
Equipment allowing testing materials by exposing them to alternating cycles of UV light and moisture at controlled and elevated temperatures. In a few days or weeks, the QUV tester can reproduce the damage that occurs over months or years outdoors.
Autoclave
Operating range: Up to 135°C and 0.263 MPa
Effective volume: 36 litres
Vacuum-Pressure Vessel
Operating range: 0 to 30 in.Hg; 0 to 100 psi
Capacity: 11.4 litres
Conditioning and Termite Rooms
Two 10 m3 conditioning rooms and one temperature and humidity cabinet (150 litres), which allows precise control of temperature (10°C to 60°C) and relative humidity (20% to 95% RH). One accelerated field simulator (AFS) and/or termite conditioned room for termite and wood decay testing facilities.
Laboratory kilns (3) and Solar kiln
All equipped with data acquisition and programmable controller units to control the temperature and RH conditions. The lab kiln volumes are 0.39 m3.
Colorimeter
For testing changes of colour of veneer or coated wood samples after exposure to UV light.
High-Temperature Laboratory Furnace
Temperature: +300 to 1200°C
Capacity: 15 litres
Pull-Off Adhesion Tester
For the mechanical assessment of the performance of coatings and finishing systems on wood samples.
Microwave (MW) wood modification laboratory
MW installations located at UoM Creswick campus to study the effects of MW wood modification on wood structure, properties, and process parameters. Plants specifications: 60 kW MW conveyor, f = 0.922 GHz; 2 x 30 kW roller conveyor plant, 2.45 GHz and laboratory MW plant – 5.8 GHz.