Led by Professor Callum Hill, CWST’s activities are focused on understanding the material properties of wood and how these affect its performance in different applications. Research spans right from the cell wall through to structural timber, therefore, providing the link between FPRI’s fundamental cell wall research and timber engineering activities.
Our core areas are:
The Wood Cell Wall represents a highly complex geometrical/chemical structure and many areas remain poorly understood, despite all of the properties of timber being able to be traced back to how the cell wall responds to stresses and stimuli. Our work brings a better understanding of how wood can be used in demanding applications, including during the key drying process.
The SIRT project works with industry and the public sector to increase the knowledge of the properties of UK-grown timber to maximise its use in higher value markets, especially that of construction. Key aspects are understanding how the growth and management of forests affects the properties of the timber produced from them and the use of non-destructive techniques for assessing the properties of wood at different points in the supply chain.
Our work looks to strengthen the forest-to-mill supply chain and to improve the economic value that can be obtained from the UK’s forest resource.
Our research covers each of the main Wood modification technologies:
and spans from examining the fundamentals of how wood modification brings about the desired property improvements, right through to developing new technologies for commercialisation.
Professor Hill is the author of the authoritative book "Wood Modification – Chemical, Thermal and Other Processes".
Most of the present work relates to the water sorption behaviour of natural fibres, with a particular interest in exploiting their hygroscopic properties to moderate extreme temperature and humidity changes in indoor environments. However, future work on improving the mechanical performance of composites made from natural fibres will seek to find new uses for natural fibres in the built environment.
Please contact:Professor Callum Hill BSc, PhD, FIWSc0131 455 2336
c.hill@napier.ac.uk