Preliminary Evaluation of a Wood-Cement Composite

Sawdust and (or) wood slivers were used as aggregate and combined with cement to form test blocks. Wood:cement ratios varied from 40:60 to 57:43 on a dry weight basis. An initial evaluation of mechanical properties for a limited set of wood-cement composites showed the following ranges of average test values: compressive strength parallel to the surface – 276 to 951 psi; tensile strength perpendicular to the surface – 18 to 55 psi; hardness – 430 to 1247 lbs.; nail-withdrawal – 25 to 80 lbs.; modulus of rupture – 199 to 570 psi; modulus of elasticity – 91,000 to 296,000. Average moisture content increases following a 24 hour soak in water ranged from 28 to 66 percent. Dimensional changes following a 24 hour soak in water ranged from 0.33 to 1.28 percent in length, from 0.30 to 1.36 percent in width, and from 0.67 to 4.22 percent in thickness. Increasing the proportion of cement in relation to wood aggregate (on a weight basis) was generally associated with improvement in all properties tested. Sawdust appeared to have some advantage over wood slivers as an aggregate.

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