Currently, the standard material used for micro end mill tooling is sintered tungsten carbide with a cobalt binder. Its brittle nature coupled with the micro-scaled cutting features of the end mills often result in rapid tool degradation. Tool life and cutting performance can be significantly improved using a thin nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) coating. The high hardness (~90 GPa), low coefficie...

This paper reviews the sources, bioavailability and fate of heavy metals and organic contaminants in compost manure and in soils of which the manure is applied. The toxicity of heavy metals and organic compounds in soil of which would have come from applied compost is also discussed. Type of materials, their background and where collected for use in composting contribute to the sources of heavy...

Introduction: Nowadays, advancements in industries, technology and human welfare level have lead to accumulation of solid wastes and have endangered environmental health. Incorrect waste management intensifies this problem. Recycling and composting (transformation of organic waste to humus) are the most important ways in waste management. Health and safety of the compost is an important issue b...

Natural forests in the humid tropics differ from temperate and plantation forests in several ways: there may be many tree species; many of these may occur infrequently; there may be a large range of tree sizes and shapes present; tree ages may be unknown and indeterminate; and despite the luxuriant appearance some rainforests, growth rates may be relatively low. This has many implications for t...

This paper presents the state-of-the-art of using non-destructive testing (NDT) methods based on elastic waves for the condition assessment of structural timber. Two very promising approaches based on the propagation and reflection of elastic waves are described. While the first approach uses ultrasonic echoes for the testing of wooden building elements, the second approach uses guided waves (G...

Forests managed for timber have an important role to play in conserving global biodiversity. We evaluated the most common timber production systems worldwide in terms of their impact on local species richness by conducting a categorical meta-analysis. We reviewed 287 published studies containing 1008 comparisons of species richness in managed and unmanaged forests and derived management, taxon,...

With rising timber costs and a decreasing supply of high-grade timber resources, manufacturers of solid wood products need to adopt more efficient processing methods that better utilize existing timber resources. To address this need, this study explores the potential of converting hardwood logs directly into dimension parts. The specific objective of this study was to estimate the potential cu...

Construction solid waste has caused serious environmental problems. Reuse, recycling and reduction of construction materials have been advocated for many years, and various methods have been investigated. However, the effectiveness of its applications seems limited. This paper examines rates of reusable and recyclable waste for six major types of building materials: plastic, paper, timber, meta...

An optimization model for Timber Harvest Planning (THP) is used to form harvest areas with the objective of maximizing the tree harvest volume subject to harvest regulations. Most optimization models for THP currently in use are based on clear cutting and restricted to adjacency constraints to prevent the creation of large clear-cut openings in the forest. However, an optimization model based o...