Bending Strength of Magnesium Oxide Board

Abstract

Magnesium Oxide (MgO) board has been widely used in prefabricated lightweight steelframe wall systems and as the floor board covering component. It is a non-insulating sheathingboard product which consists of sustainable materials with the characteristics of fire resistance,weather-ability, strength, resistance to mold and mildew. Although MgO board has recentlyworldwide used in façade construction but the research data related to the laboratory work such asthe bending strength is still limited. The previous studies on the bending strength of MgO board arebased on various standards such as ASTM, JC688 and British Standard subjected to the productscharacteristics and patterns. Therefore, the bending strength values obtained were inconsistent andnot convincing. Thus, this paper aims to examine the bending strength of MgO board with threedifference thicknesses (6mm, 9 mm and 12 mm) based on BS EN 310:1993 subjected to threepoints bending test. The failure modes during three points bending test was observed and theexperimental results obtained were compared with the theoretical values and others relevantstandards. A total of thirty six specimens with twelve specimens for each thickness in two groupdirections namely longitudinal (length) and transverse (width) direction were tested. The specimenswere prepared based on BS EN 326-1:1994 and BS EN 325:2012. The maximum flexure load of thespecimens was recorded and arithmetic mean bending strength for each thickness was presented.The experimental results showed the tested MgO board was not achieved minimum bendingstrength for load bearing used. It is recommended to be used in non-load bearing façade claddingconstruction.