Studies of coatings, lifetime and circular economy of resin-wood composites

木材是一种可持续的资源。在制造商业产品时，通常使用树脂复合材料、涂层和金属固定件来增强机械和寿命特性以及功能性。该项目旨在开发一种闭环制造工艺，优化工艺中的材料和能量输入，产品在使用寿命结束时可以完全回收，成为有用的材料供进一步使用。在工业上，树脂是复合木材的重要组成部分。虽然固化树脂通常是化学和/或热驱动的，但规模化固化将总是由于质量和能量转移而复杂化。一个关键目标是以商业上可行的成本和规模控制树脂固化，同时保持所需的产品形式。木材复合材料使用粘合剂和/或金属固定件连接在一起。固定件和材料本身必须具有商业上可接受的使用寿命，因此本项目还将研究材料寿命。研究工程师将：-调查树脂-木材复合材料的热行为，以充分了解复合材料基材中的树脂固化;-根据制造优化计划研究现场计量。数据将与过程变量相关联，以了解这些变量如何影响固化和树脂-木材相互作用，进而影响最终的产品参数;-在加速风化和涂层下测试产品寿命，以提高产品的使用寿命。- 研究使用化学和热处理的材料回收。

Wood is a sustainable resource. In making commercial products, resin-composites, coating and metal fixings are often used to enhance mechanical and lifetime properties as well as functionality. The resultant product therefore is a hybrid or composite material.The project aims to develop a closed-loop manufacturing process where materials and energy input into the process are optimised, and the product can be fully recycled at the end of its lifetime, into useful materials for further use. Industrially, resins form a crucial part of composite wood materials. Whilst curing resins is typically chemically and/or thermally driven, scaled curing will always be complicated by mass and energy transfer. A key aim is to control the resin cure at a cost and scale which is commercially viable, whilst maintaining the desired product form. Wood composites are joined together using adhesives and/or metal fixings. The fixings and then material itself, must have commercially acceptable operational lifetimes and hence this project will also study material lifespan. The Research Engineer will:- Investigate thermal behaviour of resin-wood composites, to fully understand the resin curing in composite substrates;- Study in-situ metrology against a programme of manufacturing optimisation. Data will be correlated with process variables to understand how these affect curing and resin-wood interactions, and in turn the resulting product parameters;- Test product lifetime under accelerated weathering and coatings developed to enhance operational lifespan of the product. - Study material recycling using chemical and thermal treatments.