Properties Of Medium Density Fiberboard Panels Research Articles

Effect of Panel Density and Resin Content on Properties of Medium Density Fiberboard

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of panel density and resin content on properties of medium density fiberboard (MDF) to obtain some insights on MDF properties as a function of panel density and resin content. MDF panels with different panel densities such as 650, 700, 750 and 800 kg/m3 were manufactured by adjusting the amount of wood fibers in the mat forming. MDF panels were also fabricated by spraying 8, 10, 12, and 14% of urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins onto wood fibers in a drum-type mechanical blender to fabricate MDF panels with a target density of 650 kg/m3. As the panel density and resin content increased, the internal bonding (IB) strength of MDF panel consistently increased. Modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE) and screw withdrawal resistance (SWR) had a similar trend to the IB strength. In physical properties, thickness swelling (TS) and water absorption (WA) decreased with an increase in both panel density and resin content. In addition, the formaldehyde emission (FE) which increased as the panel density and resin content became greater. In overall, the panel density of MDF had more significant effect than the resin content in all properties of MDF panels, indicating that it was better to adjust the panel density rather than the resin content for MDF manufacture.

The effects of boron compounds and different melamine contents in MUF resins on some properties of MDF panels

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of some boron compounds, which have fire retardant properties, as well as melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) resins having different melamine contents (10%, 15%, and 20%) on some physical and mechanical properties of medium density fiberboard (MDF) panels. It was found that the water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS) of MDF panels increased depending on types and concentrations of boron compounds. However, the WA and TS values of MDF panels decreased with increasing melamine content in MUF resins. It was also found that the modulus of rupture (MOR) and internal bond strength (IB) of MDF panels showed different trends depending on the experimental parameters. Boron compounds showed some negative effects on the MOR and IB values. However, these effects decreased with increasing melamine content in MUF resins. The best results were obtained in MDF panels manufactured with an MUF resin having 20% melamine content. Consequently, increasing melamine content in MUF resins showed positive effects on some properties of MDF panels.

Effect of thermo-mechanical refining on properties of MDF made from black spruce bark

The effects of thermo-mechanical refining conditions on the properties of medium density fiberboard (MDF) made from black spruce (Picea mariana) bark were evaluated. The bark chips were refined in the MDF pilot plant of Forintek Canada Corporation under nine different refining conditions in which preheating retention time was adjusted from 3 to 5 to 7 min and steam pressure was set at either 0.6, 0.9 or 1.2 MPa. The resulting bark fibers were blended with 12% UF resin (based on oven-dry fiber weight) using a mechanical blender. The resinated fibers were manually formed into fiber mats and hot-pressed into MDF panels using consistent parameters. Two panels for each refining condition were produced, resulting in a total of 18 panels. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the significance of factors. Regression coefficients and 3D contour plots were used to quantify the relationship between panel properties and the two test factors. The results from this study indicated that the preheating retention time was a significant factor for both modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE), the steam pressure was a significant factor for internal bond strength (IB), MOR and MOE, whereas both factors were insignificant for thickness swelling, water absorption and linear expansion. The properties of MDF panels were quadratic functions of retention time and steam pressure. Compared to the ANSI standard for 120-grade MDF, most panels with a nominal density of 950 kg/m3 had very high IB (>1 MPa) and acceptable MOR, MOE and dimension stabilities. These results suggest that black spruce bark residues can be considered as a potentially suitable raw material for manufacturing MDF products.