Wilhelm-Klauditz-Prize for Wood Research and Environmental Protection 2021 - Award Ceremony

Braunschweig, 18^th November 2021

Following the General Assembly of the iVTH on 18 November 2021, the 11^th Awards Ceremony of the Wilhelm-Klauditz-Prize took place in Braunschweig.

The prize of 5 000 euros donated by the association was awarded on the suggestion of the prize committee to Dr.-Ing. Torben Marhenke with his research work on “Development of novel methods to ensure reliable quality controls of wood-based materials – the sustainable material of the future”.

The award-winning work deals with reliable quality controls of wood-based materials. Up to now, ultrasonic detection methods have been able to detect defects in wooden materials from a size of 25 mm x 25 mm. Thanks to the method developed by the prize-winner as part of a doctorate at the Leibniz University Hannover in cooperation with the Fagus-GreCon Greten GmbH, it is now possible to detect defects as small as 1 mm in diameter. The new method also allows to determine the exact position of the defect. With these findings, wood-based panel manufacturers can better deduce the causes of imperfections. With the developed method, important material parameters can also be determined non-destructively and reliably directly in the manufacturing process. Problems in production can therefore be detected at an early stage and countermeasures can be taken quickly. With the newly developed ultrasonic process, the increased requirements for wood-based materials are taken into account and an important contribution is achieved for a better quality of these products.

Due to the also very good evaluations of the prize committee, a second work was additionally awarded a special prize of 3,000 euros this year. This was awarded to Prof. Dr.-Ing. Björn Kampmeier, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dirk Kruse und M. Sc. André Zobel for their work on “Fire protection research for facilitated application of wood in industrial construction”.

Until now, the increased use of wood as a building material in industrial construction has been hampered by considerable restrictions imposed by building authorities. In order to resolve these, the award winners carried out targeted investigations which were supported by the specialist association glulam construction (Fachverband Holzleimbau) and the Council of Engineers building in North Rhine-Westphalia (Ingenieurkammer-Bau Nordrhein-Westfalen). The main objectives were to identify the fire protection restrictions for timber construction, to examine under which limiting conditions the restrictions can be reduced or eliminated, and to identify the evidence and proof required for this. Furthermore, the research team was involved in the upcoming revision of the Industrial Building Directive. Thus, wood constructions should be assessed as sufficiently robust from a fire protection point of view to be used in industrial construction without further requirements. The proposal developed was implemented with the support of ARGEBAU 2019 as the “Model Guideline on Structural Fire Protection in Industrial Buildings”. It facilitates the implementation of fire protection in timber construction for multi-story industrial buildings and for the use of exterior wall claddings and insulation materials made of wood.

For further information on the award-winning works, please contact the iVTH.