ENSTIB, Université Henri Poincare Nancy, France

LINEAR WELDING OF WOOD: An alternative to using adhesives


The concept of linear welding has developed as a result of collaborative research between LERMABENSTIB, Université Henri Poincare, Nancy and HSB Biel, Switzerland. The development of this French – Swiss wood welding process resulted in the award of the Schweighofer Prize (European Innovation Award for Forestry, Wood Technology and Forest Products) in 2005. Work is continuing to further develop the process and demonstrate the
commercial applicability of linear welding of wood.

Linear welding results in an extremely localised effect, where the molten region is limited to the immediate region of the weld interface. The molten region causes cell wall collapse and densification within this local region, resulting in a dense region around the weld. Correct processing will result in a strong wood-wood bond, without the use of adhesives. Work is continuing to understand the welding process.

The research team at Nancy is by Prof. Antonio Pizzi, with several research students furthering process development and possible applications