Bonding performance of adhesive systems for cross-laminated timber treated with micronized copper azole type C (MCA-C)

Abstract

The feasibility of manufacturing cross-laminated timber (CLT) from southern yellow pine (United States grown) treated with micronized copper azole type C (MCA-C) preservative was evaluated. Lumber (2x6 visually graded no. 2 boards) was treated to two retention levels (1.0 and 2.4 kg/m3), planed to a thickness of 35 mm, and assembled along with an untreated control group using three adhesive systems following product specifications: melamine formaldehyde (MF), resorcinol formaldehyde (RF), and one-component polyurethane (PUR). Block shear and delamination tests were conducted to examine the bonding performance in accordance with ASTM D905 and ASTM D2559 Standards, respectively. One-way analysis of variance and Kruskal-Wallis H test were conducted to evaluate the effects of preservative retention and adhesive type on block shear strength (BSS) and wood failure percentage (WFP). Regardless of adhesive type, the 1.0 kg/m3 retention treatment significantly lowered BSS compared to the untreated control. CLT composed of the laminations treated at 2.4 kg/m3 maintained BSS when PUR and RF were used but not MF. The average WFP of each CLT configuration ranged from 89% to 99%. The untreated CLT specimens did not experience any delamination under accelerated weathering cycles. The delamination rates of the treated specimens assembled using MF and RF increased with the preservative retention level, while PUR provided delamination rates less than 1% to the laminations treated at both levels. These combined data suggest that, under the conditions tested, PUR provided overall better bonding performance than MF and RF for MCA-C treated wood.