Resource-efficient building with wood
A research team from Empa and ETH Zurich is developing an innovative method for producing wood-based panels inspired by traditional shingle production. By using split wood and artificial intelligence, even low-grade hardwood becomes a sustainable building material with future potential.
The manual production of wooden shingles in the Alpine region has inspired researchers at Empa and ETH Zurich to develop a new approach. They developed a process in which wooden sticks made from split wood are processed into material panels. In contrast to conventional processing, low-quality hardwood can also be used. The aim is to produce panels with mechanical properties that come close to those of solid wood.
Energy and material efficiency through chipless processing
In traditional shingle production, logs are split along the fibre. A process with minimal energy consumption and virtually no waste. This principle is now being transferred to industrial applications. Thanks to a two-stage splitting process and a newly developed device with a multi-bladed splitting head, several wooden sticks can be produced simultaneously, even from hardwood species that were previously mainly burnt.
Artificial intelligence for wood sorting
A central element of the new process is the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate the wood sticks. A line camera captures high-resolution images of each stick, which are analysed by a neural network. This allows important properties such as stiffness to be determined independently of the type of wood, shape or size. In future, this data-based selection should enable a targeted arrangement of the rods in order to further optimise the mechanical properties of the panels.
Boards for load-bearing components with potential
Even without sorting, the first demonstrators show high resource efficiency and good mechanical properties. The researchers see great potential in the process for load-bearing components in the construction industry. Challenges still exist in terms of bonding, scaling and the predictability of material properties. Nevertheless, the process offers promising prospects for the use of wood in a changing construction industry.
Research is strategically bundled
The project is part of the “Mainstreaming Wood Construction” initiative, which promotes the increased use of wood in construction. A new research centre is planned as part of this initiative. The “Center for Wood Materials and Structures” is intended to combine the expertise of Empa and ETH Zurich and provide new impetus for wood processing along the entire value chain.