Structural design with Accoya wood

Abstract

The benefits from acetylation of wood to enhance resistance against fungal decay and dimensional stability have been known for many years. Since 2007 Accsys Technologies has been commercially producing Accoya wood that is based on acetylation of Radiata pine. Accoya has shown its potential for many applications, even for structural use. However, due to limited engineering data each project had to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Based on research at various universities and institutes, Accsys Technologies has in combination with TimberSolve and ARUP, developed a handbook to assist designers and structural engineers produce reliable, durable and consistent designs utilising Accoya wood in structural applications.

Keywords:

• Acetylated wood
• Mechanical properties
• Pinus radiata
• Strength grading
• Structural application
• Structural design

The authors are very grateful of the pleasant cooperation with University of Brighton (Dr Dave Pope), SHR (Professor Dr André Jorissen) and ARUP (Andrew Laurance) to develop a Structural Design Guide for Accoya Wood.

Notes

This paper is part of a special issue on the Sixth European Conference on Wood Modification