Particle boards produced from cassava stalks: Evaluation of physical and mechanical properties

Felix A Aisien A Aisien,Andrew N Amenaghawon,Kingsley C Bienose

doi:10.17159/sajs.2015/20140042

Abstract

We investigated the potential use of cassava stalks for the production of bonded particle boards. Particle boards were produced from cassava stalks using urea-formaldehyde as a binder. Water absorption and thickness swelling tests were carried out to determine dimensional stability of the boards while modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity tests were carried out to assess the mechanical strength of the boards. Particle boards produced using an adhesive–cassava stalk ratio of 3:1 gave the best results in terms of the lowest mean values of water absorption (20%) and thickness swelling (6.26%), as well as the highest values of modulus of rupture (4×106 N/m2) and modulus of elasticity (2366.74×106 N/m2). The particle boards produced met the ANSI/A208.1-1999 standard for general-purpose boards. The results of analyses of variance carried out revealed that the adhesive–cassava stalk ratio had a marked influence (p<0.05) on the physical properties (water absorption and thickness swelling) but not on the mechanical properties (modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity).

Highlights

The start of the manufacture of modern particle boards can be traced back to the early 19th century.[1]
The highest water absorption was obtained for particle boards produced using an adhesive–cassava stalk ratio of 2:1, while the lowest water absorption was obtained for particle boards produced using an adhesive–cassava stalk ratio of 3:1
We investigated the potential use of cassava stalks for the production of particle boards using urea-formaldehyde as a binder

Summary

Introduction

The start of the manufacture of modern particle boards can be traced back to the early 19th century.[1]. These values are expected to rise to 4.704 million m3 and 0.688 million m3, respectively, within the 20 years.[4,5] The increased demand for wood and wood-based panel products in Nigeria has placed a significant pressure on current forest resources, which has led to an increase in the price of wood.[1,6] This demand has led to the need to find alternative raw materials for the production of boards and panels One solution to this problem, as identified by researchers, is the use as an alternative of agricultural residues such as the stalks of most cereal crops, rice husks, coconut fibres (coir), bagasse, maize cobs, peanut shells, cassava stalks, etc. In most underdeveloped and developing countries, these residues have very limited reuse capacity and they are typically inappropriately discarded or openly burnt.[2,9,10,11]

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