Comparing Properties of North American Manufactured Particleboard and Medium Density Fiberboard - Part I: Particleboard

The goal of this study was to collect up-to-date data on the properties of Canadian and United States-manufactured particleboard (PB) and medium density fiberboard (MDF). Sixty-three manufacturers were contacted and asked to participate in a mechanical and physical properties comparison study. This is the first of two papers presenting the results of the PB evaluation. Samples from five different manufacturing facilities from Canada and the United States were evaluated. Each manufacturing facility provided 5 full-sized, (2440 x 1220 mm) M2-grade panels. These were tested according to North American standards. The performed tests included internal bond (IB), bending and elastic moduli (MOR/MOE), thickness swelling (TS), linear expansion (LE), vertical density profile (VDP), and face and edge screw withdrawal resistance (SWR). Four out of 5 press lines exceeded the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) A208.1 (2009) recommendation for IB. Only one of the tested particleboard sets reached the recommended ANSI standard for MOR. Results for the edge SWR showed that none of the tested particleboard manufacturers reached the ANSI recommended value.