TL9+ Wood [Ultratech]

[AlexanderHowl]

Sheer strength is different from tensile strength and compression strength. The compression strength of densified wood is 50× that oak from what I can gather from the litersture, while the tensile strength and sheer strength are around 10× as much (inferior to Kevlar).

[Black Leviathan]

Minimalist furniture.

5 lb dinner table that can hold up a full dinner and the pressure of 5 adults leaning on it. Easier to move, less damaging to flooring, cheaper to ship.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Sheer strength is different from tensile strength and compression strength. The compression strength of densified wood is 50× that oak from what I can gather from the litersture, while the tensile strength and sheer strength are around 10× as much (inferior to Kevlar).

Another tricky issue there is that the strength of oak is directionally dependent. Ten times the tensile or shear strength along the fibers is quite good (though still well short of the usual hype for carbon fibers, so it's a little inconsistent with some of the other claims), 10 times the tensile or shear strength between the growth rings on the other hand...

Part of the point of densified wood is that the resulting material is more isotropic. Indeed that's the goal of a great deal of materials engineering done on wood all the way back to the invention of plywood.

[scc]

Build some really big skyscrapers, and no I'm not joking, wood is actually something of a hot new material in building construction because it's lighter, cheaper, faster to build with, and more environmentally friendly then concrete. Buildings made with it also have a positive effect on the people living in them.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Sheer strength is different from tensile strength and compression strength. The compression strength of densified wood is 50× that oak from what I can gather from the litersture, while the tensile strength and sheer strength are around 10× as much (inferior to Kevlar).

Originally Posted by malloyd

Another tricky issue there is that the strength of oak is directionally dependent. Ten times the tensile or shear strength along the fibers is quite good (though still well short of the usual hype for carbon fibers, so it's a little inconsistent with some of the other claims), 10 times the tensile or shear strength between the growth rings on the other hand...

the original paper gives the strength increase as x32 to x50 times perpendicular to the growth direction, which is to say the weak direction. The strength with the growth direction increases by x5.5.

x5.5 is a big increase, but it doesn't give quite the results of a x50 strength increase in all directions.

[AlexanderHowl]

Wooden planks being 50x stronger for the thickness is a rather impressive feat.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Wooden planks being 50x stronger for the thickness is a rather impressive feat.

It's 50x harder to split along the grain, but only 5x harder to split in the direction that people actually care about wood being strong in.

[scc]

Originally Posted by Anthony

It's 50x harder to split along the grain, but only 5x harder to split in the direction that people actually care about wood being strong in.

Cross-laminate timber, which is what is used in big construction, might due to the way it's made.

Also note that wood has, I believe, the same strength weight for weight as steel, so this makes that wood five time stronger then steel.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by scc

Also note that wood has, I believe, the same strength weight for weight as steel, so this makes that wood five time stronger then steel.

Even if that statement were true (as always, 'what kind of wood', 'what kind of steel', and 'what kind of strength'), the process makes the wood 3x denser, so weight for weight it's only 1.8x stronger than normal wood.

[Luke Bunyip]

Originally Posted by Varyon

It would be used the same way wood is, as a structural material, it would just be stronger.

Is it able to be moulded into a curve? If so, it may be preferential for particular schools of architectural fashion, as a "more natural" alternative to steel framing.

Q: Is it more energy/resource hungry than steel?

Originally Posted by Varyon

... It probably wouldn't have a high demand for furniture, being heavy for its volume...

If it can be bent, and it has a residual amount of spring greater than that of steel, IMHO it would be great for making the framing for chairs.