Red Oak Structural Particleboard

Though demand for softwood timber will rise more rapidly than supply through the year 2000, demand for hardwood timber will grow at a slower rate than supply. Much of the underutilized hardwood inventory is in small size, low quality, or cull trees. Further, relatively dense species predominate in the mixed hardwood stands of the eastern United States. Manufacture of well-bonded, nonstructural particleboard entirely from dense hardwoods has generally produced panels too dense and heavy for traditional uses. A three-layer structural particleboard with faces of aligned particles was manufactured entirely from northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) furnish. Evaluation of engineering and dimensional stability properties showed it is possible to manufacture a high-performance, durable structural particleboard from high density species at an overall panel density equal to or less than the density of the raw material. This research suggests the possibility of manufacturing structural particleboard from an underutilized resource in close proximity to the major construction markets of the eastern United States.

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