Laboratories – Université Laval
The majority of the CRMR laboratories at Université Laval are located in the Gene-H.-Kruger building. This eco-friendly building, equipped with an bioclimatic environmental control system, is constructed almost entirely of wood and the use of local products was encouraged so as to benefit the regional economy and minimize pollution and transportation costs. In addition to conference rooms, classrooms and offices, there are ten workshops and eight laboratories where teaching and research is carried out in a number of fields including wood anatomy and physics, primary and secondary transformation, composite panels and polymer and adhesives chemistry. Futhermore, work on the implementation, characterization, modification and modeling of natural fibre-based composites, including expanded materials (foams), multilayer structures (sandwich) and recycling, under the supervision of Denis Rodrigue are carried out in the laboratories of the Chemical Engineering Department in the Adrien-Pouliot Building.
Wood physics – A roughness meter is used to evaluate cutting tool performance by measuring the surface variability of a machined wood sample with respect to its thickness.
Wood anatomy laboratory – Production of thin slices of wood using a microtome.
Machining – Industrial milling machine coupled to a video camera enabling the study of wood fibre behaviour in relation to cutting parameters.
Bending machine for solid wood – The piece to be bent takes the form of the mold when pressured by the turntables.
Bending test bench – A piece of wood is installed on the bench to determine its rigidity and resistance to breakage.
Machining laboratory – As part of a course, wood pieces are held in metal jigs during cooling after thermal conditioning and bending.
Numerically controlled 3-axis machining centre – Machining a table top.
Numerically controlled 5-axis machining centre – Used to machine wood pieces with complex shapes (3D).
Controlled environment chamber – Used to conduct tests under independently controlled temperature and humidity settings.