PANEL MANUFACTURING
Imeas: Innovations in sanding CLT panels and glulam beams
By Francesco A Zenere , CEO and sales director, Imeas
INTRODUCTION The timber industry is constantly evolving, with a growing demand for efficient solutions for processing innovative materials such as cross- laminated timber (CLT) and glue- laminated (glulam) beams. These materials are revolutionising the construction industry due to their ideal structural and environmental sustainability properties. Imeas, a producer of sanding machinery based in Villa Cortese, Italy, offers solutions that aim to meet the precision and quality requirements of these materials. This article will explore the market and features of Imeas machines, the most recent developments, the benefits they offer, and how they contribute to the improvement of production processes in the wood industry. CLT AND GLULAM BEAMS: A GROWING MARKET CLT is a material composed of crossed layers of solid wood, also known as lamellas, glued together with structural adhesives. This construction method, conceptually similar to plywood, gives CLT extraordinary strength and stability, making it ideal for a range of building applications, from walls to floors to roofs, allowing the construction of multi-storey buildings. Glulam beams are made up of layers of wood glued, but in parallel layers, offering a strong and flexible material that can be used to connect large spans and make complex structures.
Imeas now offers sanding systems for the sanding of CLT panels and glulam beams
The growing popularity of these materials is due to their advantages, including environmental sustainability, optimal mechanical properties, thermal-acoustic insulation, and ease of processing. From the point of view of finishing, the evolution of the market has seen a first phase in which the panels were installed raw, then the introduction of
a manual sanding — a tiring, expensive process — to, finally, a turn towards the need for a professional and high-quality sanding solution capable of reducing time, costs and matching the end- customers demand at the same time. That’s where Imeas’s solutions come in. From Imeas’s point of view 1 , we have witnessed an evolution of the market characterised by an initial period
40 PANELS & FURNITURE ASIA | SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2024
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