Expedited Award: Laser Incising for Improved Lumber Drying and Chemical Treatment

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Technical Summary: This exploratory project proposes to develop a novel technique that will increase the effective permeability of wood for improved drying and chemical treatment. The process involves a high-energy pulsed-laser system that will generate very small holes in the tangential and radial surfaces of green lumber. This process is referred to as laser incising. The primary objectives are: 1) Establish a set of operating parameters for a 150 continuous-watt CO2 laser in order to precisely generate incisions of controlled diameter and depth, 2) Compare the drying rate of incised lumber to non-incised lumber, 3) Compare the quality of dried lumber which has been incised with dried lumber that has not been incised, and 4) Evaluate the potential of the laser incising technique for a commercial process. Innovation/Novelty: This proposal is innovative because of the unique application of laser technology to secondary wood processing. To date, processing wood with a laser has been limited to cutting operations, in which the economic feasibility has been marginal due to slow cutting speeds. Since laser incising involves the removal of only a small amount of wood substance, much higher processing rates are possible. In contrast to conventional incising processes, laser incising would not likely reduce strength properties or greatly reduce the surface appearance. If incising is performed prior to drying green lumber, a technique that has not been considered, then increased drying rates and improved lumber quality may result.