Potential of wood welding for Australian Eucalypts

The wood welding potential of three commercial Australian hardwood species has been investigated with the aim of bringing this fast assembling technique to an efficient manufacturing process for the production of high-value wood products. Optimal linear and rotational wood welding parameters were determined for Eucalyptus saligna, Eucalyptus pilularis and Corymbia maculata and different joining methods. The optimized parameters for each selected species and welding process were determined using an adapted tensile or shear strength test. The results confirmed the importance of density in the optimization process where the grain direction proved to have a significant impact on the welded joint strength. Some other anatomical features also showed to affect the mechanical properties of the welded joints. Energy consumption measurements provided useful information while appearing as an interesting non-destructive method to assess the weldline quality. Limiting factors which could have implications for future commercial applications have also been identified as part of the present study. Overall, wood welding of Australian hardwood species could be a suitable alternative for non-structural indoor applications where gluing is usually required