Project-ID: FTI20-003
Project start: 15. January 2022
Runtime: 36 months / ongoing
Funding amount: € 263.166,00

Brief summary

Climate change is one of the key factors driving an adaptation of species composition of Austrian forests, diminishing the proportion of softwood in favour of hardwood, particularly beech and oak, which are more resistant to drought and ensuing calamities. Since beech and oak are fundamentally different from the currently dominating softwood spruce in terms of their technological properties, new approaches to boost high-value hardwood utilisation are urgently needed. The present proposal suggests splitting as a means to minimise fibre deviations on hardwood from low-quality branch-wood. Furthermore, split macro-fibrous elements will be straightened with the aid of thermally assisted plasticisation in steam and densified to form high-value, straight fibre beam elements capable of serving as structural elements e.g. in construction or automotive. This highly material-efficient utilisation concept for low-value hardwood provides numerous benefits in that it enables a high proportion of bio-based material utilisation also in future, supporting the continuous competitiveness of the forest-based sector in times of climate change.