Development and industrial application of structural high performance composites based on wood 2 (HIPWOOD 2)

Important results from the project

HIPWOOD aims to develop sustainable, lightweight, high-performance wood-based composites for advanced engineering applications. After the proof of concept using solid wood in stage 1, stage 2 particularly developed HIPWOOD sawdust to realize 3D formability and laminate structures of HIPWOOD, furthermore, optimized and verified critical manufacturing conditions for more stable and better mechanical, fire-retardant and moisture absorption performance. Sustainability, business potential of HIPWOOD and gender equality in technical development was also tackled.

Expected long term effects

Different wood materials, commercial solid wood, building scraps, chips, sawdust and post-consumer wood, were manufactured into sustainable, lightweight, high-performance composites without additional resin and adhesive using the technology developed in HIPWOOD. HIPWOOD materials also possess good fire-retardant properties, beneficial for improved safety in different industrial sectors, e.g., construction and transportation. It also attracted more interest from academia and manufacturing companies/end users in developing HIPWOOD materials and processes further.

Approach and implementation

The HIPWOOD 2 project had 11 partners including the 3 from the stage 1 project, covering a full value chain from raw material to end use bridged by technology developer with materials- and process expertise and human work science researchers to analyze gender equality in this development. The implementation of HIPWOOD 2 was carried out following plan without significant deviation. A huge amount of research data of materials and manufacturing process development, sustainability and business potential of HIPWOOD as well as gender equality in technical development were generated.