Eco-friendly, lightweight, and high-strength sandwich corrugated particleboard from tea oil camellia (Camellia oleifera Abel.) shells

This study investigates the potential of developing corrugated panels from tea oil camellia shell (TOCS), an abundant agricultural waste in the southern provinces of China, with an annual production of approximately 4 million tons, using experimental and computational methods. Hence, various corrugated geometries were designed using AutoCAD software, and finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted using Ansys Mechanical software to optimize the panel geometry based on TOCS engineering data. Bending performance simulations revealed that a trapezoidal geometry with a 3 mm edge radius exhibited superior bending performance. Therefore, this geometry was selected to fabricate corrugated panels of different densities to assess the impact of density variation. Mechanical characterization included evaluation of bending stiffness, maximum moment, total deflection, compression strength, ultimate strength, dowel bearing strength, and face screw resistance of the panels was performed. Furthermore, specific energy absorption and failure mechanisms of mechanical tests were analyzed. The results indicate that TOCS-based sandwich panels, characterized by their lightweight and sustainable nature, not only meet, or exceed the criteria specified in APA PS 2 - 10 for use as structural materials but also mitigate the environmental hazards associated with landfill disposal or burning of agricultural waste.