Novel Lightweight Semi-Finished Products Made of Poplar Veneer Plywood with Basalt Fibre Reinforcement

Abstract

Veneer plywood is established in building construction, interior finishing and vehicle construction. Particularly in automotive or ship interior applications, the requirements with regard to strength and stiffness properties are increasing. At the same time, the weight of the panel materials used is to be reduced. The development presented here is a new type of lightweight basalt fibre-reinforced poplar veneer plywood and at the same time rigid alternative to the established birch veneer plywood. By adapting the adhesive and the reinforcing semi-finished products, the material and manufacturing costs are comparatively low. The bonding of the fibre reinforcement to the carrier material is achieved by means of adapted wood adhesives (e.g. polyvinyl acetates), which are also used as matrix material for the fibre reinforcement. An application of the reinforcement layer is integrated into the coating process (e.g. with High Pressure Laminate HPL decorative fabrics) of the carrier material. Essential advantages compared to conventional board materials are shown in this paper. The research results were achieved at the Institute for Structural Lightweight Construction of the TU Chemnitz in cooperation with the company Toms Gerber GmbH within the ZiM cooperation project FuBa.