Essay: Substitution Phenomenon And Substitutes For Wood: Properties, Advantages.

Aesthetic

Substitution phenomenon is process in which current material is replaced with another one because of its price or shortage. Wood is one of the most environmental friendly products that is received from the nature. Shortage is fact because of which wood material is replaced with non wood material in last few decades.

Wood is renewable source of nature but at a certain time limited wood resources are available for consumption. This fact has been subjected to quick growth of substitution process for wood with carbon intensive material like steel, concrete, aluminum in last few decades. That process is main cause of displacement of material wood from market in last decades. Developed countries are doing action to oppose that process but poor or developing countries have no chance and choice in that area.

Industries have to stressed and focused on that wood can be used in thousands different application. In end of its first life cycle it may be-:

• It may be recovered
• It may be reused
• It may be used as natural source of energy

Substitutes of wood replace it because of many reasons. Most important reasons are-:

Great potential in the shaping production scales and due to that product manufacturing cost is high and price is also high. With comparison of wood some of its substitute properties have superior’s characteristics.

In current scenario most of substitutes are consumed in field of construction on global scale. Use of energy in building industries including transportation, building formation and production is very low for wood material system as compare to the other material. So far, appropriate standard by mean of which value of substitutes against replaced materials like wood can be compared haven’t been developed but strength and significance of the industries those are producing substitution material can be compared.

By considering tasks those lie ahead of the wood in process of global warming and in which there is need of reduction of greenhouse gases like CO₂ role of wood continue to grow. Everybody is aware that global climate change can be control by preserving forests because just trees are capable to neutralize this kind of dangerous effect. That is also an important fact of using substitute’s materials like steel, concrete, aluminum in place of wood for products. By using non wood materials forests can be preserve and hence to reduce greenhouse effect and global warming.

One more reason for substitution of wood with non wood materials like steel, concrete, aluminum is consumer behavior. Non wood material is better in aesthetic properties than wood materials. Shining of non wood material is more due to property of reflection of line. These points attract consumers. Hence consumption of non materials also rises in few decades due to consumer behavior.

Initially Less Expensive

In these papers properties of wood material and non wood material with their advantages and disadvantages is discussed. These papers are useful for selecting material for specific application by understanding its properties and advantages related to that operation. (Strykowski, 2013)

Advantages of using Solid wood

Aesthetic

Wooden product looks natural thing. Many consumers like concept of natural look of their goods. Wood gives natural look to the home goods. Because of personality and natural look of wood it looks beautiful and more distinctive. Other point related to aesthetic is that wood colors changes with in contact with ultraviolet light rays. Color of wood becomes deeper and darker. Hence natural change of product can be enjoy and observed by using solid wood goods.

Initially less expensive

For raw material, price of wood is lesser than non wood material. But installation cost of wooden goods is more because it requires onsite standing and finishing. Initial cost of wood is less than non wood products.

Capable of refinish

Wooden product can be used for generations because it can be refinished and sanded over and over again which leads to restore the original beauty of surface.

Simple and easy to repair

Wooden products are easy to repair by finding same wood that matched with damaged part. If part is damaged with aesthetic then it can be recovered with re-sanded and refinished.

Messy and time consuming installation

Because wooden products are installed, sanded and finished onsite hence job takes long time. Because of these reasons wooden job is unpleasant and due to dust and chemical fumes it is unhealthy for surrounding humans.

In appropriate for some areas

Because of moisture wooden products are not recommended to use in few areas.

Stability

Non wood materials are structurally more stable than wood material. This happens because they are capable to resist contraction and expansion occurred due to temperature change.

Durability

Aluminum oxide coats on the non wood materials hold up for long time. Hence this leads to durability of aesthetic of non wood materials. So materials hold up well up to many years.

 Easy and speedy installation

Because non wood products don’t need sanding or finishing and installed simply with nailed into place hence it is easy to install and take few hours.

Initially more expensive

Cost of pre finished non wood material is more but installation cost is less because it doesn’t require onsite sanding and finishing.

Capable of Refinish

Difficult to repair

Repair of non wood materials is difficult than wood materials. If products of steel, aluminum damage then replacement is very costly. It leads to join broken part with welding or other mechanism those are costly and special operator is required. Hence repair of non wood is difficult and expensive.

Limited refinishing

Non wood products can be refinished 2 or 3 times. But if heavy wear of product occur then product have to be replaced. But in case of solid wood we can refinish over and over again.

Solid wood

Properties of solid wood

The life cycle of the solid wood is a moderate. It requires less energy to produce 20 GJ primary/tonne. As it is a natural occurring resource so have no environment impacts. Wood is also naturally strong and beautiful. Such durability will be reliable even on high duties as well. The furniture made of wood will be just fine in all weather. It is highly flexible and we can modify the furniture anytime. The wood can be place outside the house and the fungus will not damage it at all. The cost of wood is nowadays looking upward because of its shortage and high demand.

Advantages

• Grace of solid wood improves over period of time because of ageing.
• Solid wood is environment friendly and healthier to humans because they are organic origin and non electromagnetic nature which tend to attract lesser amount of dust. Because of that they don’t attract molds or allergens those cause allergies due to dust travel.
• These are hard and lesser prone to damage in comparison with non wood materials. In event of fall of heavy object on solid wood their resistance is more as compare to non wood materials because nothing kind of dent, fracture occurs.
• Solid wood is easy to use while manufacturing goods one because manufacturing and machining on them is easy as compares to non wood materials. Cost of machining is also lesser as comparison to the non wood materials.  
• Extreme variation of solid wood is available in this world. Because of numbers of trees with their number of species are available in the worldwide. All have their different properties.
• Solid wood can be recycled. If life cycle of solid wood is over then it can be use to produce energy by mean of burning.

Disadvantages

• Testing of solid wood is inexpensive. Testing takes a lot of time.
• Processing of solid wood is very expensive.
• Solid wood rot if no protection is provided.
• Solid wood can be unsightly during harvesting.
• Difficult for selecting perfect solid wood because wide range of product with their different qualities is available.

Concrete 

Properties

Concrete is very easy to made and also very economical because its ingredient are easily available. There is no problem of rusting and decay as in the case of other materials. Concrete can be prepared by the untrained labor. The only major disadvantage of concrete is that it includes the cement as one of its ingredient which fall a bad impact on environment. 

Advantages of concrete

• It is a stone like and also an artificial type material which is used for various structural purposes.
• Concrete is very cost affective or economical as all the ingredients used for making it are easily available.
• Concrete has also high durability as its structure have long life and there is no need of maintenance.
• Unlike other building material there are no such problems of rot, corrosion and decay of concrete.
• Concrete has the quality to be taken any shape for building purposes.
• The casting and mold of concrete can be prepared at the work station as it is very easy to prepare concrete and this reduces the building cost.
• Another aspect of concrete is that it is fire proof and can withstand the higher temperature because of non combustible material.
• Concrete strictly prohibited the rodents, insects, water and wind. Thus storm shelters are made of concrete. (Concrete Advantages and Disadvantages, 2015)

Disadvantages of concrete

• The concrete has no tensile strength as compared to others building materials.
• The value of strength to mass ratio is low in case of concrete.
• Cracking can easily be happen on the concrete after laid one time.
• The concrete is easily available but it is also an environmentally unfriendly as the cement is used as the ingredient in its manufacturing which require an energy and carbon dioxide for preparation.

Steel 

Properties

Except the price of the stainless steel the other steel are not much costly and can be easily recycled. The strength of the steel is such that it gives the robust structure after the correct installation accordingly the purpose and thus increases the property of durability which is moderate in this case. The manufacturer of steel product gives guarantee for about 16 years although its life expectancy is 25 years. Steel is eco-friendly as it is 100 percent recyclable and having high life time value. (Hopkins)

Advantages of steel

• Steel is a very sustainable material for construction.
• It has the very good strength and also durable, so not easily decay or ages as quick as other materials.
• Steel can be re-cycled again and again as it does not lose its quality.
• The accuracy and predictability of the components made of steel, speed up the construction process.
• The price of steel is very cost effective as there is a competitive market of steel.
• The components of steel are made offsite and get assembled on work site rapidly by the skilled workers. This makes it a safe construction material.(Rig-Tech, 2017)

Disadvantages of steel

• The coating of the expensive paint is required to the steel structure as it rust easily otherwise and this process of coating is done repeatedly time to time.
• The concrete are more fire resistant than the steel and the value of fire resistance of steel is near about 700⁰C which is half of the value of concrete.
• There is an increment of chances of brittle fracture in steel structure as if the steel reduces its property of ductility.
• The steel production has various impacts on the surrounding environment which include the air emissions like CO, Sox, NOx and waste water contaminants.
• The production of coke is the major source of pollution from the steel production. (Afsar, 2012)

Properties

The aluminum is highly corrosion resistive and in normal domestic system, it can be last for about 25 years. It can be handling easily as the weight of the aluminum is lighter as compared to other building materials. Cast aluminum is a cost effective alternative to the steel or cast iron. It requires very high energy to produce a little more than 20GJ primary/tonne. The property of durability is relatively higher than steel. 

Simple and Easy to Repair

Advantages of aluminum

• The specific weight of aluminum is 2.72 g/cm³. So it is light metal as compared to steel which has value about three times of this value.
• Aluminum is highly corrosion resistant as it automatically generates the layer of protective oxide.
• The thermal conductivity of the aluminum is brilliant and can also act as an electricity conductor. Thus the aluminum is widely used for the power transmission lines.
• The strength of aluminum can be changed accordingly to the requirement.
• Aluminum has the property of ductility and this allows the aluminum products to be formed clearly to the end of product design.
• It is hundred percent recyclable and the melting process does not need enough energy.
• Because of the non magnetic nature, it is used for making the compass of the ship and other equipments.(AZoM, 2002)

Disadvantage of aluminum

• The cost of production of aluminum is far more expensive than the steel.
• There is higher energy utilization when producing aluminum.
• As the aluminum oxide is very abrasive, it is difficult to tool.

Conclusion

In past few decades non wood substitutes has covered great proportion of consumption of wood products. Reason of that substitution is properties of non wood substitutes.

Wood is renewable source but in a limited time this source is available in limited quantity. But in current scenario rate of consumption is increasing day by day. Because of that use of non wood material is adopted from past few decades. Non wood materials like steel, concrete, aluminum are used in substitution of solid wood.

Properties of non wood materials are superior to solid wood material. Strength of non wood substitutes is greater than solid wood materials. Non wood material can last long for long time period if proper protection is provided. Manufacturing of non wood material is easy because then non wood materials like concrete can transform any required shape.

Strength of non wood substitutes like steel, concrete, aluminum is greater as compare to wood material. Metals are seemed be fragile but when they are screwed or glued with drywall or structure then it become very rigid and strong. Non wood substitutes perform much better than wood substitute for no load applications because endurance of non wood substitutes is more as compare to wood materials. But in case of structural support wood materials are used in past and current scenario because they perform well in this condition.

Product of non wood material is lighter than wood material. Hence it is convenient to transport or store metal products because of their weight and space coverage for same function or load application. Non wood materials like steel, aluminum cuts by using aviation snips hence no saw dust produce. During operation with non wood materials no dust produces which leads to healthy operation. (Sebring, 2016)

Working on non wood material is easier because non wood materials easily transformed in to required shape and specification. It is easy to produce any kind of shape with solid wood material but to produce highly precise components special operation has to be performed. But in case of non wood materials like aluminum precise specification of product can be produced by simple manufacturing techniques.   

Products of wood material can stay in some areas where moisture is high. With moisture wood starts changing its shape which leads to damage of product. But non wood materials doesn’t affect with moisture. Just one time protection has to be provided in case of few non wood materials like aluminum because if protection has not being provided then it may be rust. But after protection non wood materials provide their services for life long period.

Messy and Time Consuming Installation

Durability of non wood material is higher than wood materials. Non wood material like aluminum and steel are highly durable and stays in their shape. Wooden materials requires refurnishing after time period because it gives up its look if comes in contact with ultraviolet light rays. But non wood materials doesn’t affect with that one. They stays in original look for life long period. (Sebring, 2016)

As comparison of cost non wood materials costs more if we compare with same quantity of product. But for specific operation non materials will cost lesser than solid wood material. In simple words scrap of non wood material is much lesser than wood material. If non wood material produces 2% of scrap then wood material will produce 20% of scrap for same operation. In that manner non wood material costs lesser and these are more effective as compare to wood material. (Sebring, 2016)

Other main reason of increase of consumption of non wood material in last few decades is stability of non wood materials. Due to thermal changes wood material starts expansion and contraction. This leads to nail pops over period of time due to which structure become weaker or may damage. Non wood materials like steel neither expand nor contract hence in case of structures nail pops are nil. Hence non wood material is more stable than solid wood material.

Last but not least environmental impact plays major role for increase consumption of non wood materials. Wood come from tree and tree cutting is main cause of adverse environmental impacts like green house effect and global warming. For production of wood forest has to be damaged which leads to change in climate and lake of rain in some places? So in that manner non wood material is eco friendly and they can be recycled. Recycling is good for environment. (Sebring, 2016)

These are few major reasons those are responsible for increase of consumption of non wood materials in last few decades. 

Afsar, J. (2012, March 16). Disadvantages of Steel structures. Retrieved May 3, 2017, from Steel structure: https://www.engineeringintro.com/introduction-to-steel/steel-structure/disadvantages-of-steel-structures/

AZoM. (2002, June 4). Aluminum- Advantages and disadvantages of Aluminum. Retrieved may 3, 2017, from AZO materials: https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1446

Concrete Advantages and Disadvantages. (2015). Retrieved may 3, 2017, from civil engineers forum: https://civilengineersforum.com/concrete-advantages-disadvantages/

Hopkins, D. (n.d.). The pro's and cons of different metal options. Retrieved May 3, 2017, from Rainclear systems: https://www.ribaproductselector.com/Docs/7/24247/external/COL737209.pdf

Rig-Tech. (2017). 4 Advantages of steel structure construction. Retrieved may 3, 2017, from Rig-Tech: https://www.rigtech.co.za/blog/4-advantages-of-steel-structure-construction/

Sebring, B. (2016, June). Metal studs vs wood studs. Retrieved May 3, 2017, from Sebring Services: https://www.sebringservices.com/the-big-debate-metal-studs-vs-wood-studs/

Strykowski, W. (2013). Wood- a substitute or a raw material substained for. Retrieved May 3, 2017, from Wood Technology Institue, Poznari: agro.icm.edu.pl/agro/element/bwmeta1.element.agro...ffad.../194_Annals84.pdf