Scientists create 'Superwood' that's 10 times stronger than steel
cnn.com
cnn.com
>“People always complain that furniture breaks down over time
This very much applies to plywood. Although I own quite a bit of furniture, actually made of planks of wood, which has lasted for an extremely long time. Even furniture which has belonged to my grandparents and which is still in very usable condition.
Woodworker here... that's less to do with the material and more to do with how it was assembled.
Longevity relies on good construction methods (and good environment).
Well, so is making steel.
The question is how they compare.
They state that it's being positioned as an alternative to steel rather than lumber, and that it's superior to steel in terms of overall energy footprint - in addition to being more lightweight - so this one looks like it could have a future.
I wonder what this process does to the flammability? On the one hand, I'd assume the collapsed cellular matrix means a denser fuel source; on the other hand, I don't know if the open cellular matrix of regular would lets oxygen in or serves as a small reservoir when normal wood burns.
> InventWood says Superwood is up to 20 times stronger than regular wood and up to 10 times more resistant to dents, because the natural porous structure of the wood has been collapsed and toughened. That makes it impervious to fungi and insects. It also gets the highest rating in standard fire resistance tests.