Prediction of Mechanical Performance of Acetylated MDF at Different Humid Conditions

Change of relative humidity (RH) in surrounding environment can greatly affect the physical and mechanical properties of wood-based panels. Commercially produced acetylated medium density fiberboard (MDF), Medite Tricoya<sup>®</sup>, was used in this study to predict strength and stiffne...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sheikh Ali Ahmed, Stergios Adamopoulos, Junqiu Li, Janka Kovacikova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-12-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/23/8712
Description
Summary:Change of relative humidity (RH) in surrounding environment can greatly affect the physical and mechanical properties of wood-based panels. Commercially produced acetylated medium density fiberboard (MDF), Medite Tricoya<sup>®</sup>, was used in this study to predict strength and stiffness under varying humid conditions by separating samples in parallel (//) and perpendicular (⊥) to the sanding directions. Thickness swelling, static moduli of elasticity (MOE<sub>stat</sub>) and rupture (MOR<sub>stat</sub>), and internal bond (IB) strength were measured at three different humid conditions, i.e., dry (35% RH), standard (65% RH) and wet (85% RH). Internal bond (IB) strength was also measured after accelerated aging test. A resonance method was used to determine dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOE<sub>dyn</sub>) at the aforementioned humid conditions. Linear regression and finite element (FE) analyses were used to predict the MDF’s static bending behavior. Results showed that dimensional stability, MOE<sub>stat</sub>, MOR<sub>stat</sub> and IB strength decreased significantly with an increase in RH. No reduction of IB strength was observed after 426 h of accelerated aging test. A multiple regression model was established using MOE<sub>dyn</sub> and RH values to predict MOE<sub>stat</sub> and MOR<sub>stat</sub>. In both directions (// and ⊥), highly significant relationships were observed. The predicted and the measured values of MOE<sub>stat</sub> and MOR<sub>stat</sub> were satisfactorily related to each other, which indicated that the developed model can be effectively used for evaluating the strength and stiffness of Medite Tricoya<sup>®</sup> MDF samples at any humid condition. Percent errors of two different simulation techniques (standard and extended FE method) showed highly efficient way of simulating the MDF structures with low fidelity.
ISSN:2076-3417