Eucalyptus urophylla STANDS WOOD UTILIZATION AT TWO DIFFERENT AGES FOR PRODUCTION OF PARTICLEBOARD PANELS

Abstract

This work aimed to assess the quality of wood particle panels manufactured with wood from Eucalyptus urophylla stands at age 7 and at age 12 years. To that end, particleboard, oriented strand board (OSB) and cement-bonded panels were produced in a laboratory and then analyzed for the following physical and mechanical properties: water absorption and thickness swell 2 and 24 hours after immersion, internal bond, compression parallel, as well as MOE and MOR from static bending. The obtained results demonstrate that tree age had little influence on the physical and mechanical properties of particleboard, OSB and cement-bonded panels. After evaluating the physical and mechanical properties of these three panel types, all manufactured with wood from Eucalyptus urophylla stands at age 7 and at age 12, we can argue that our results are satisfactory in comparison to existing literature results.