Influence of fiber Ratios and Resin Contents on the Properties of Medium Density Fiberboard Made from Rubberwood and Leucaena
Wan Mohd Nazri Wan Abdul Rahman1, Siti Noorbaini Sarmin2, Nur Yuziah Mohd Yunus3
1Wan Mohd Nazri Wan Abdul Rahman, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia.
2Siti Noorbaini Sarmin, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia.
3Nor Yuziah Mohd Yunus, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia.

Manuscript received on 12 April 2019 | Revised Manuscript received on 18 May 2019 | Manuscript published on 30 May 2019 | PP: 3167-3170 | Volume-8 Issue-1, May 2019 | Retrieval Number: A1474058119/19©BEIESP
Open Access | Ethics and Policies | Cite | Mendeley | Indexing and Abstracting
© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract: This study presents the manufacturing of medium density fiberboard (MDF) produced from a mixture of Leucaena and rubberwood species. The evaluations are conducted to determine the physical and mechanical properties of MDF from the mixture of Leucaena and rubberwood and the effect of different wood ratios and resin content on fiberboard properties. The usage of urea formaldehyde (UF) as a particleboard binder and target board density of 700 kg/m3 were studied. Medium density fiberboards were assessed for the properties of mechanical (bending and internal bonding) and physical (thickness swelling) according to European Standard (EN 622-5:2006). Results shows that fiberboard made from 80% Rubberwood and 20% Leucaena and 12% resin content has the highest Modulus of Rupture (MOR) value of 15.09 MPa. Whereas, fiberboard made from 20% Rubberwood and 80% Leucaena and 12% resin content has the highest Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) and Internal Bond (IB) values of 2005 Mpa and 0.7 Mpa, respectively. Fiberboard made from 80% Rubberwood and 20% Leucaena and 12% resin content has the best Thickness Swelling (TS) value of 21.59%. The results revealed that the variations in wood ratios and resin contents shows significant effect on MOR, MOE and TS values of fiberboard. However, there is no significant changes on IB values with the usage of different Leucaena and rubberwood ratios.
Index Terms: Medium Density Fiberboard; Rubberwood; Leucaena; Resin Content; Fiber Ratio.

Scope of the Article: IoT Applied for Digital Contents