engineering

Hybrid wood

Hybrid wood is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hybrid wood rather than just read about it. In short: Hybrid wood or wood hybrid systems (WHS) is a multilayer composite material, composed on the surface of a skin made of composite wood (WPC) adhering to an underneath structural core, in general aluminum. Invented in Japan in 2008, this technological evolution is based on wood composite technology which was conceived in 1972 by Sadao Nishibori and patented in 1983 to substitute threatened exotic wood species.

Key takeaways

Hybrid wood belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hybrid wood to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hybrid wood from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hybrid wood or wood hybrid systems (WHS) is a multilayer composite material, composed on the surface of a skin made of composite wood (WPC) adhering to an underneath structural core, in general aluminum. Invented in Japan in 2008, this technological evolution is based on wood composite technology which was conceived in 1972 by Sadao Nishibori and patented in 1983 to substitute threatened exotic wood species. WHS are not fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP).

In truth, speaking of hybrid wood profiles only makes sense when the outer layer – the composite wood – and the core – aluminum – are adhering sufficiently to each other to prevent any delamination under any climatic conditions to which they may be exposed. To this day, only coextrusion at high temperature of a powerful adhesive and of composite wood allows the "fusion" of 2 materials as different as aluminum and composite wood. This adhesiveness is so powerful that bending the profiles is possible even at very low radii, thus broadening significantly the fields of applications. In the construction, decoration or design industry sector, hybrid woods have the look, feel and sometimes smell of natural wood. They are easier to install and better performing than natural wood and their exceptional properties allow utilizations that are many times broader than those of wood. They are used in exterior and interior applications such as façades trims, cladding, louvers, screens, pergola, canopies or any durable installations such as urban furniture for instance.

Manufacturing

Wood hybrid profiles are obtained through extrusion. The wood composite covers a core in anodized aluminum core. The optimal adhesiveness between these two materials is made possible by applying a coextruded intermediate adhesive layer. The wood composite layer can be applied on only one side of the profile if so required. The wood fibers to resins ratio as well as the type of core vary according to the desired characteristics. Manufacturing of these profiles generates a low carbon print only if the raw materials are of recycled origin.

Properties

The lifetime of wood hybrid profiles is significantly longer than that of exotic woods, both internally and externally. For the same cross section, the aluminum used for the core allows the profile to be lighter, more stable (no shrinkage, no warping, no splinter, no knot) and more rigid than a natural wood profile, thus allowing longer spans between supports or longer cantilevers. Over time and without maintenance the aspect of the overall installation as well of the surface of the profiles will remain in accordance to the wishes of the designer or the architect. The material is rot proof, is insensitive to bad weather, sun exposure, fungus or termites. The combination of the physical properties of the core and of the aesthetics of the composite wood allows hybrid woods to outperform:

Composite woods: because of their mechanical properties, their dimensional stability, their lightness, and their ease of implementation. Natural woods: because of their durability, their original colorfastness, their lengths and cross sections and the lack of maintenance or staining, independently of the climatic conditions or the moisture level of their environment.

History Hollow composite woods, invented in 1992, offer a weak mechanical resistance. During their installation as railings or louvers, it is imperative that metallic supporting rods be inserted in the cells in order to avoid the profiles to flex, buckle or warp. Without these rods and for this particular technology, these disturbances remain unavoidable under the joint actions of bad weather, of the sun and of moisture intake by the material. The use of the supporting rods creates another issue: the notable difference of the expansion coefficient of both raw materials (a 3.5 factor between hybrid wood and metal) creates frequent disturbances, even when installation has been carefully made. For a horizontal installation, the stagnation of condensation waters between composite and metal decreases the durability of the installation. In 2008, major technological advancements allowed to marry two distinct technologies: extrusion of a correctly assayed compound and application through extrusion at high temperature of a layered adhesive. This "fusion" of such different materials – composite wood and aluminum – is made possible by the thin adhesive layered sandwiched between outer skin and central core. This breakthrough allows today to market easy to install products with the look and feel of exotic wood and perfectly durable without maintenance.

Applications

For new buildings as well as for renovations, hybrid wood profiles are perfectly suitable for cladding, siding, screen wall, windbreak, fence, pergola, trims, louvers and railings.

See also Advanced composite materials (engineering) Composite material Hybrid material

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hybrid wood

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hybrid wood claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hybrid wood before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hybrid wood ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hybrid wood

In research: Hybrid wood appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hybrid wood in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hybrid wood is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Building materials, Composite material fabrication techniques, Composite materials, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hybrid wood outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hybrid wood in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hybrid wood means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hybrid wood out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hybrid wood in simple terms?

Why does Hybrid wood matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hybrid wood?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hybrid wood.