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The mechanical properties and termite and decay resistance performance of wood-based panel used in wooden houses were evaluated. The physical and mechanical properties, along with the resistance levels, of commonly used wood-based panels, including oriented strand board, structural particleboard, and particleboard for use in interior, were compared. The structural particleboard complied with the physical, mechanical, and formaldehyde emission standards of the International Organization for Standardization and Japanese Industrial Standard, surpassing the requirements for oriented strand board. The structural particleboard exhibited excellent water resistance and a consistent performance. Decay tests classified the particleboard and structural particleboard as “Resistant,” with mass losses of 7.82 to 12.72% (white rot) and 14.69 to 16.55% (brown rot). Pine (Pinus densiflora) and oriented strand board exhibited no decay resistance, with mass losses exceeding 45%. The particleboard and structural particleboard demonstrated superior termite resistance, resulting in 100% termite mortality in three days without chemical treatment. The structural particleboard exhibited excellent water, decay, and termite resistance, which can be an advantage in wooden-house construction in terms of maintenance.

Cement-bonded particle boards are gaining popularity globally due to their durability, strength, and, more importantly, environmental sustainability. The increasing demand for these materials has also created the necessity for the sustainable recycling of these materials. In this study, the potential to recycle wood-wool cement board (WWCB) waste into new lightweight insulation biocomposite material was examined. The waste WWCBs were crushed and separated into a fine aggregate fraction, and WWCB production line residues were also collected and compared. The crushed WWCBs were used to produce biocomposites with various compaction ratios and different binder-to-aggregate ratios. To improve their thermal properties and reduce their density, hemp shives were used to partially replace the recycled WWCB aggregate. Their physical, mechanical (compressive and flexural strength), and thermal properties were evaluated, and the drying process of the biocomposites was characterized. The results showed that the density of the produced biocomposites ranged from 390 to 510 kg/m3. The reduction in density was limited due to the presence of cement particles in the aggregate. The incorporation of hemp shives allowed us to reduce the density below 200 kg/m3. The thermal conductivity of the biocomposites ranged from 0.054 to 0.084 W/(mK), placing the material within the effective range of natural biocomposites. This research has demonstrated that industrially produced WWCBs can be successfully recycled to produce sustainable lightweight cement-bonded insulation materials.

This study aimed to determine the relative densities of populations of particles emitted in fire experiments of selected materials through direct measurement and parametrization of size distribution as number (NSD), volume (VSD), and mass (MSD). As objects of investigation, four typical materials used in construction and furniture were chosen: pinewood (PINE), laminated particle board (LPB), polyurethane (PUR), and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The NSD and VSD were measured using an electric low-pressure impactor, while MSD was measured by weighing filters from the impactor using a microbalance. The parametrization of distributions was made assuming that each distribution can be expressed as the sum of an arbitrary number of log-normal distributions. In all materials, except PINE, the distributions of the particles emitted in fire experiments were the sum of two log-normal distributions; in PINE, the distribution was accounted for by only one log-normal distribution. The parametrization facilitated the determination of volume and mass abundances, and therefore, the relative density. The VSDs of particles generated in PINE, LPB, and PUR fires have similar location parameters, with a median volume diameter of 0.2–0.3 µm, whereas that of particles generated during PMMA burning is 0.7 µm. To validate the presented method, we burned samples made of the four materials in similar proportions and compared the measured VSD with the VSD predicted based on the weighted sum of VSD of raw materials. The measured VSD shifted toward smaller diameters than the predicted ones due to thermal decomposition at higher temperatures.

Using bamboo particle board as a wall divider, a furniture component, or an automotive component with a sound absorber function may be a viable option for architects and engineers seeking to achieve desired acoustical qualities, including noise reduction. However, there is still a dearth of research on the effect of particle board finishing and coatings on acoustical sound absorption and noise reduction qualities. This study, therefore, aims to determine the surface characteristics and acoustical properties of bamboo particle board, coated with polyurethane (PU). The single-layer homogeneous particle boards were constructed using particles classified as fine and coarse with two different board densities, and coated with a high-quality PU lacquer. This study found that the coating treatment of 0.3 mm 0.6 mm succeeded to significantly decrease surface roughness, as well as thickness, swelling, and water absorption, with the thickness coating as a dominant factor compared with board density and board particle size. Adding a PU coating increases sound absorption performance at low frequencies, but significantly reduces acoustical properties at high frequencies. The increase of particle board density leads to the decrease in noise reduction coefficient capability. Results obtained from this study are useful to determine the optimal coating thickness in terms of evaluating acoustical panel products.

To increase the sustainability of prefabricated timber buildings and constructions, composite timber beams with “box” cross-sections were developed in collaboration with an industry partner. They were constructed from a solid timber frame and from webs made of residual waste wood-particle boards from prefabricated timber buildings production. The developed beams’ design concepts presented in this paper were governed by architectural features of prefabricated timber buildings, geometrical limitations, available production technology, and structural demand related to various possible applications. The paper presents the results of experimental bending tests of six variations of the developed composite timber beams constructed by mechanical fasteners only. The developed design concept of composite timber beams without adhesives is beneficial compared to glued beams in terms of design for deconstruction and lower VOC emissions. The tests were conducted to study the influence of the following parameters on the beams’ mechanical behavior: (i) web material (oriented strand boards (OSBs) vs. cement-particle boards); (ii) the influence of beam timber frame design (flanges and web stiffeners vs. flanges, web stiffeners, and compressive diagonals), and (iii) the influence of stiffener–flange joint design. Besides the beams’ load-bearing capacities, their linear and non-linear stiffness characteristics were the main research interest. While adding compressive timber diagonals did not prove to significantly increase the stiffness of the beams in the case of cement-particle board webs, it increased their load-bearing capacity by enabling the failure of flanges instead of prior webs and stiffener–flange joints failure. For beams with OSB webs, failure of the bottom flange was achieved already with the “basic” timber frame design, but timber diagonals proved beneficial to increase the stiffness characteristics. Finally, mechanical characteristics of the developed beams needed in structural design for their application are provided together with further development guidelines.

The use of coconut husk sawdust and tomato stem particles at varying blending proportion was examined for the production of particle board. Boards of dimensions 350 mm by 350 mm by 6 mm were produced (coconut husk dust, tomato stem particles) at different blending proportion and addition of additive (CaCl2 at different concentrations). The physical properties (water absorption and thickness swelling) and mechanical properties (modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE)) were investigated. Thickness swelling and water absorption were investigated at 24 and 48 hours. The results showed that boards exhibited mean values of 0.50% to 4.16% and 2.12% to 7.00% respectively of thickness swelling at 24 hours and 48 hours respectively and 13.6% to 25.2% and 17.6% to 29.1% of water absorption at 24 h and 48 h, respectively. The boards also exhibited means of 1.00 N/mm2 to 5.25 N/mm2 and 339 N/mm2 to 3430 N/mm2 for MOR and MOE respectively. An increase in the tomato particle content caused increase in water absorption and thickness swelling, resulting in the highest water absorption and thickness swelling values. Tomato stem and coconut husk dust can be used to produce cement bonded boards after pre-treatment with hot water and preferably both sieved.

Particle board is widely used for panelling, partitioning and ceiling in buildings. A novel type of flame-retardant particle board was prepared based on one kind of flame-retardant adhesive. The flame-retardant adhesive was composed of the fire-retardant chemical (mixture of guanyl urea phosphate (GUP), boric acid (BA)) and melamine urea formaldehyde resin. The data reveal that there was improvement in flame retardancy properties like flame penetration, flammability and rate of burning. Among the all three formulations of GUP: BA ratio showed the best performance in improving the fire retardancy of particle board when exposed to fire. Physical and mechanical properties of particle board such as water absorption, modulus elasticity, modulus of rupture and internal bond strength have been evaluated as per Indian standard 3087.

In modern times, depleting resources have necessitated research on renewable and recyclable materials for particleboard production. This research is centered on using Groundnut Shell Ash (GSA) as a pozzolan for partially replacing cement in the production of Cement-Bonded Particle boards. A mix proportion of 40%, 33% and 27% for cement, periwinkle shell and sawdust respectively as recommended in the work of Odeyemi and others in 2020 was adopted in producing the boards. The cement was replaced with GSA at 0%, 4%, 8% and 12% respectively after which their physical and mechanical properties were determined. The densities of the boards ranged from 2330 to 2760 kg/m 3 , water absorption ranged from 4.2 to 5.74% (in 2 h) and 5.8 to 9.08 (in 24 h) while the thickness swelling ranged from 3.21 to 5.12% (in 2 h) and 6.73 to 7.92% (in 24 h). The Modulus of rupture and Modulus of Elasticity ranged from 1368.45 to 5129 N/mm 2 and 1594.38 N/mm 2 to 2161.23 N/mm 2 respectively. These results fall within the acceptable limits of the American Standard Institute. Therefore, GSA is a suitable partial replacement for cement in producing cement-bonded particle boards.

Mushroom growing media waste (MGMW) is the media waste after mushroom plants are harvested. In this research, we try to reuse MGMW as a material for composite particle board. The physical properties of the composite were tested using density and moisture content measurement. We also did the measurement for thickness swelling after immersion in water, the strength of absorption water, internal bonding. The mechanical test was conducted to know the modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture and screw holding power properties. Impact and pressure was done for the optimum composition. The optimum composition, particle board is 75% MGMW + 24% polyester resin + 1% catalyst Mekpo (methyl ethyl ketone peroxides), and 60% MGMW + 39% (50% urea +50% starch) + 1% PVC glue. It is suitable for physical and mechanical test and accordance with SNI 03-2105-2006 and JIS A 5908-2003. The microstructure of MGMW was observed using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) shows the grain of a composite particle board is firmly integrated.

An unconventional approach to the design of cement mixtures with the addition of cement bonded particle board (CBPB) production waste is presented, which is characterized by high water consumption. For various compositions of fine-grained concrete prepared in accordance with the simplex-lattice design of the experiment, compressive strength and bending, as well as density of the samples, depending on the mixture factors, were researched. The fractions of CBPB wastes, water and sand at constant cement consumption were chosen as the influencing factors. For practical purposes, related to the design of cement composite compositions with the addition of CBPB wastes and with the determination of optimal values of the selected factors, mathematical models have been constructed on the basis of laboratory experiment data and with their help, the optimal ratios of components in the mixture have been determined. It was found that the content of water for the mixture mixing in the mixture has a significant effect on the strength characteristics of composites: increase of the strength of materials with a decrease in the water-cement ratio is a characteristic for compositions with the minimum amount of CBPB waste; increasing the content of the CBPB waste in the mixture the increase of the water-cement ratio leads to gain in strength. Optimal ratios of the mixture components providing maximum utilization of CBPB waste without loss of strength of composites are given.