Physical and Mechanical Properties Evaluation of Corncob and Sawdust Cement Bonded Ceiling Boards

Abstract

This study considered the production of composite ceiling boards from both agricultural and industrial wastes. Boards with different blending proportions by weight of cement, corncob and sawdust (Cem:Ccb:Swd) were produced and tested. Physical and mechanical tests such as Water Absorption (WA), Thickness Swelling (TS), Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) and Modulus of Rupture (MOR) were carried out on the products. The findings revealed that the board with Cem:Ccb:Swd blending proportion 50:10:40 gave the highest values of MOE and MOR and also had the lowest values of WA and TS. The MOE and MOR values of 3.432 are both higher than the minimum values of 550 N/mm2 and 3 N/mm2 specified for MOE and MOR respectively by the American National Standard Institute, for general-use particle boards. The cement content is inversely proportional to the physical properties and directly proportional to the mechanical properties.