Wood-plastic composite

Wood-plastic composite (commonly abbreviated as WPC) is a non-recyclable composite material lumber or timber made of recycled plastic and wood wastes.

There are also application in the market, which utilize only virgin raw materials. Its most widespread use is in outdoor deck floors, but it is also used for railings, fences, landscaping timbers, cladding and siding, park benches, molding and trim, window and door frames, and indoor furniture.

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Multilaminar veneer

Multilaminar wood veneer uses plantation wood to reproduce decorative effects which are typical of quality wood species (often protected and rare). This aids the preservation of biodiversity and complies with the principles of Sustainable forest management.

Large sheets of veneer are produced on a machine similar to a lathe. The sheets are dyed, then compressed and bonded into thick (typically 70cm) logs. These logs are then sliced to create the end product. If the sheets are compressed between plattens with an undulating surface, the slice will cross several layers and produce a patterned effect. Many different finished designs can be obtained by varying the plattens, dyes and stacking order.

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Heartwood and sapwood

Heartwood is wood that has become more resistant to decay as a result of deposition of chemical substances (a genetically programmed process). Once heartwood formation is complete, the heartwood is dead. It appears in a cross-section as a usually colored circle, usually following the growth rings in shape. Heartwood may be much darker than living wood. However, other processes, such as decay, can discolor wood, even in woody plants that do not form heartwood, with a similar color difference, leading to confusion. Some uncertainty still exists as to whether heartwood is truly dead, as it can still chemically react to decay organisms, but only once (Shigo 1986, 54).

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Wood Formation

Wood, in the strict sense, is yielded by trees, which increase in diameter by the formation, between the existing wood and the inner bark, of new woody layers which envelop the entire stem, living branches, and roots. Technically this is known as secondary growth; it is the result of cell division in the vascular cambium, a lateral meristem, and subsequent expansion of the new cells.

• Growth rings
• Knots
• Heartwood and sapwood

 

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Different woods

There is a strong relationship between the properties of wood and the properties of the particular tree that yielded it. For every tree species there is a range of density for the wood it yields. There is a rough correlation between density of a wood and its strength (mechanical properties). For example, while mahogany is a medium-dense hardwood which is excellent for fine furniture crafting, balsa is light, making it useful for model building. The densest wood may be black ironwood.

It is common to classify wood as either softwood or hardwood. The wood from conifers (e.g. pine) is called softwood, and the wood from dicotyledons (usually broad-leaved trees, e.g. oak) is called hardwood. These names are a bit misleading, as hardwoods are not necessarily hard, and softwoods are not necessarily soft. The well-known balsa (a hardwood) is actually softer than any commercial softwood. Conversely, some softwoods (e.g. yew) are harder than most hardwoods.

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