Screw-nail withdrawal and bonding strength of paulownia (Paulownia tomentosa Steud.) wood

The effects of screw type, moisture content, and grain direction on the screw and nail withdrawal strength and bonding strength were investigated for paulownia (Paulownia tomentosa Steud.) wood grown in Turkey. The withdrawal strength was carried out according to the ASTM-D 143 and ASTM-D 1761 and Turkish Standard 6094 in three directions (tangential, radial, and longitudinal) on 60 samples. The moisture content of half of the samples was 12 % and that of the other half 28 %.The experiment of bonding strength (BS EN 205) was applied to both sanded surfaces jointed by poly-vinly acetate and Desmodur-VTKA adhesives. Results of the tests indicate that, the withdrawal strength values at 12 % moisture content were higher than the 28 % for screws whereas the withdrawal strength for 28 % moisture content was higher than 12 % for nails. The maximum withdrawal strength value was found in the chipboard screw. In the case of directions, the withdrawal strength values of radial direction were found to be higher than the others for all parameters. The lowest withdrawal strength values were found in the longitudinal directions for both nails and screws. For adhesive types, the highest bonding strength of D-VTKA was found to be 5.64 N mm(-2) and it was higher than the bonding strength with PVAc (5.33 N mm(-2)). However, there were no significant statistical differences between the two adhesive types. The results show that paulownia wood can be used for different purposes such as house construction, roof systems, and box cases as it possesses enough strength.