Polymer molecular weight consolidation

Monomers with low molecular weights will diffuse into the wood more rapidly than polymers such as PEG. In a second phase, their in situ radiation curing will form wood consolidants that are much stronger than PEG. However, this method requires very heavy irradiation equipment, which is usually available only in nuclear research centers. The irradiation cell dimensions and the 7-source geometry limit the size of the artifacts. For mainly these reasons, the radiation process was applied in very few institutions and in most cases only at the experimental level. The Nucleart Laboratory, which routinely conserves waterlogged wood by this technique, is located in the Grenoble Nuclear Research Center of the French Atomic Energy Commission. 

For the flow of polyacrylamide solutions in consolidated and unconsolidated sandstones, the onset of shear thickening in terms of a critical flow rate shifts towards higher values with increasing permeability, temperature and decreasing molecular weight and concentration of the polymer. 

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