Cost Advantages In New Clear Wood Adhesives

8 February 2008
New techniques for evaluating the strength and durability of adhesives used in exterior and structural wood and timber products could pave the way for the introduction of new products to the Australian market, research for Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA) has found.
Such adhesives are commonly used in finger-jointed timbers, where smaller solid timber lengths are joined to create longer structural beams, for instance, and in veneers.
CSIRO researcher Dr Ken Van Langenberg last year visited the US to research new adhesive testing techniques as part of FWPA's Cullity Fellowship program. Dr Van Langenberg said internationally, commercial and cosmetic factors were driving the development of new adhesives in the building products industry. However, Australia was continuing to rely on a single adhesive type – phenol-resorcinol formaldehyde (PRF).
“It's been on the market since just after World War 2, and the industry is confident that adhesive bonds can last at least 50 years. Some new isocyanate-based adhesives (IBAs) have already been developed, particularly in Europe, over the past 15 years, but Australia has been cautious about using them,” Dr Langenberg said
Then new adhesives have a pale yellow or clear colour, which will give a colourless glue line, an advantage over the current red-coloured adhesives used in Australia. They may also have commercial cost advantages.
The engineered wood products industry is a major user of these glues, generating more than 300,000 m³ of product a year, with an annual turnover of $275 million.
Dr Van Langenberg said he believed the new fracture testing technique he evaluated in the US would provide an effective way of assessing the strength and durability of adhesives.
FWPA managing director Glen Kile said it was important the industry and consumers had confidence in any new products being used, and that new products were evaluated for any efficiencies or product improvements they might provide.

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