How Adding Wood Dust Affects the Properties of Composite Construction Materials

Abstract

Composite materials based on wood dust are promising construction materials that have recently gained traction in the market. Their success is attributable to the benefits such materials represent for construction: they are eco-friendly and resistant to atmospheric effects; they are well-disposable and easy to machine. Utilizing wood dust is essentially recycling the waste of woodworking, furniture-making, and lumbering industries, as well as the waste associated with the use of low-grade wood. The present paper covers the processes that occur in the structure of a composite materials when using abrasive wood dust as a filler. The research team has made pilot samples of various composition; analysis revealed the composition affected such properties as density, flexural strength, and water absorption. The effects were further analyzed to attribute them to specific mixture components. Refining the production technology and the recipe is one of the key objectives of producing and applying constructional composites today. Maximizing the performance while reducing the energy costs and the production costs requires a focus on rheological properties. The properties of a composites material mainly depend on the type and properties of its organic filler. Understanding that is fundamental to optimizing the composition, i.e. to finding such filler that will provide sufficient strength at a maximum fill factor. It is also known that using fillers makes the composition significantly cheaper.