A Comparative Study of the Physio-Mechanical Properties of Iron Fillings and Mild Steel Chips in Reinforced Particleboard

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This study compared the physio-mechanical characteristics of mild steel chips and iron fillings on sawdust-produced particleboard to regular particleboard made from sawdust alone, using identical production conditions. Particle board was made using 1.18mm sawdust, 3mm mild steel chips, and iron filler with diameters of 0.15mm, 0.425mm, 0.6mm, 1.18mm, and 2.0mm. 70g of sawdust, 40g of iron fillings, and 40g of mild steel chips were used in the production process. 50ml urea formaldehyde was used as a binder. The atomic absorption spectroscopy was determined for iron fillings and mild steel chips. Particleboards were produced at a temperature of 160°C and a pressure of 20 tons for 15 minutes. Mechanical property tested indicates that particleboard containing iron filings has a lower Modulus of rupture (MOR) because the size of the iron filings in the particleboard reduces as the MOR increases. The particle size of iron filling with the value of 2.0mm had the least MOR of 3.99mpa/m2 in iron filling samples. The MOR of Mild steel chips was higher compared to all the samples analyzed. Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) of particleboard produced from iron filings increases as the particle sizes of iron filings increases. The samples containing iron filings alone showed the highest MOE of 244.89 MPa/m2 for 2.0 mm particle board, while the ones containing mild steel chips had the highest MOE of 282.82 MPa/m2 across all samples, suggesting their strength as reinforcement. The rate of water absorption and thickness of swell of particleboard produced from iron filings increases as the size of the iron fillings increase.