Shaping Wood: When Research and Design Break New Ground Together

As a sustainable material, wood combines numerous properties that make it indispensable in a wide range of industries. In the construction industry, furniture and interior design, packaging and transportation logistics, as well as in the paper and pulp industry, wood is indispensable due to its unique combination of low weight, high strength, excellent thermal and moisture regulation, and environmental sustainability. This combination offers properties that plastics and metals have so far been unable to fully replicate.

However, a significant weakness of flat wood-based materials compared to plastics and metals lies in their limited formability. While thermoplastics can be bent or injection-molded into complex shapes with little effort, wood-based materials fail even when one attempts to bend the material moderately or reshape it.

Scientists at the Chair of Wood Technology and Wood-Based Bioeconomy have developed a process as part of the “HolzPaerFormT” collaboration project that allows wood-based materials—so-called fiberboards—to be shaped in a controlled manner and processed into three-dimensional parts. The process is based on the technique of bending solid wood using steam and heat, a method that has been known for 100 years.

The key lies in weakening the material in a targeted manner: The researchers use a laser to perforate wood-based panels according to a specific pattern. This is based on a CAD model of the desired 3D shape. Depending on the required radius of curvature, areas are defined and the perforations are adjusted accordingly. The holes created form flexible zones where the material can yield more easily without breaking. The perforated wood-based panels are then treated with hot steam. This temporarily softens the wood and makes it pliable. Under vacuum, the panel is then pulled onto a mold and takes on its three-dimensional contour. As the water cools and evaporates, the material stabilizes again—and retains its new shape.

From Research Project to Student Project and Exhibition Piece

The story of Willi Eckardt, a student of Technical Design, shows how research can directly serve as the starting point for students’ own projects. While searching for a topic for his research internship, he came across the “HolzPaerFormT” project. He approached the project leaders and asked if he could explore the process as part of his research internship. It quickly became clear that his idea could be realized through joint supervision by faculty members from the Chairs of Industrial Design Engineering and Wood Technology and Wood-Based Bioeconomy.

© Sebastian Sotero

The wood technology experts wanted to test the novel process in a larger-scale demonstrator. Willi Eckardt subsequently refined his design in this direction. To implement the project, the researchers also brought in students from the fields of wood technology and fiber materials engineering. The students contributed their expertise in furniture design and used the joint project as the basis for their course projects. Step by step, Willi Eckardt’s original design for a demonstrator evolved into a pavilion to be assembled from shaped 3D wood components. The chair’s carpenter and the wood technology students worked closely together on the structural and manufacturing aspects of the pavilion.

“I am certain that this project was a very valuable experience for the students. They were able to see how an initial idea develops step by step—from conception through detailed planning to actual implementation,” says Dr. Jan Herold, project manager for HolzPaerFormT. “What began as an inquiry about a research internship turned into an interdisciplinary project between Technical Design and Wood Technology, in which research, teaching, and practical implementation are directly intertwined.”

After successful fabrication at the Chair’s technical workshop, the pavilion was assembled on a trial basis. What began as a student idea within the framework of a research internship has thus become a tangible object. The pavilion exemplifies a form of teaching in which research serves as the starting point for students’ own projects and practical experiences. Starting September 15, it will be part of the exhibition “Together. Thinking. Who’s Actually Doing Research Here?” at the COSMO Science Forum. The exhibition is open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and will be on view through November 26.

Contact:

© Sven Ellger

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter

Name

Mr Dr.-Ing. Jan Herold

Lehre | Forschung

Send email

Send encrypted email via the SecureMail portal (for TUD external users only).

Contact Information

Organization Name

Holztechnologie und holzbasierte Bioökonomie | MAR 32

Holztechnologie und holzbasierte Bioökonomie | MAR 32

Address work

Besucheradresse:

Marschnerstr. 32, 212

01307 Dresden

Deutschland

Show map of this location.

work Tel.

fax Fax

+49 351 463-38288