The researchers found a method to bend wood materials without the need for machine operation. As a result of a new study, it was discovered that wood can bend itself.
Different methods are used to bend wood. Bandsaws, clamps or adhesives have traditionally been used to bend wood. Heating and shaping of timber up to 99 degrees Celsius is a method used in shaping wood materials. Machines that produce curved wooden materials do not use the whole wood. Cutting or sanding off parts that are not needed.
Scientists working at the ETH Zurich University in Switzerland and the Institute of Cellulose and Wood Materials Laboratory and Construction Materials (EMPA) at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, developed a way in which wood would bend itself with a joint project. With this method, the wood itself creates a preset curved shape without the need for any external mechanical strength.
The veined structure of the trees allows them to stand upright. However, this veined structure causes trees to bend over time. Scientists worked on the grain structure of trees to bend wood. By bonding the two wood layers to each other, a two-layer structure with different vessel directions was obtained.
As the water content of the bipolar structure decreased, one layer became more flexible than the other. As a result of these two wood layers firmly bonded together, they revealed a curved structure.
Researchers have developed a computer model that will calculate the amount of bending of the binary structure based on layer thickness, vessel orientation and moisture content of the wood. They called this computer model “wood programming..”
Once the two-layer structure has reached the desired curvature, it can be bonded to another two-layer structure. This process is called lamination. The process, known as lamination, ensures that the structure of the wood does not deteriorate even when the temperature changes.
Scientists who built the study built a tower made of twisted wood in Urbach, Germany this year. The researchers called this tower, which they built with “programmed wood, Ur the Urbach Tower. The wood used in the tower was completely flat before the wood programming process.
