Investigation on fracture toughness and internal bonding of oriented strand board (OSB) made from Poplar

In this study, fracture toughness and internal bonding of OSB made from Poplar (Populus nigra) was studied. For this aim, ratio of UF to MF (20; 80, 40:60, 60:40 and 80:20), mat moisture (11 and 13), press time (5 and 7 min) and the panel thickness (12 and 16 mm) were chosen as variables. Specimens based on Taguchi design of experiments with the array of L8 (4^1 2^3) were produced and fracture toughness and internal bonding were determined following ASTM E399 and 319 EN respectively. Fracture toughness was determined using stress intensity factor and fracture energy. The result of percentage contribution and the variables ranking showed that the most determining factor on fracture toughness is the ratio of UF to MF. The effect of press time on stress intensity and internal bonding and the effect of panel thickness on fracture energy had the least importance. The highest fracture toughness was belong to OSBs made with UF to MF ratio of 60:40, mat moisture of 11%, press time of 7min and the panel thickness of 12 mm. The highest fracture energy and stress intensity factor was 2944 J/m2 and 0.19 MPa respectively. The optimum treatment was UF to MF ratio of 80:20, mat moisture of 13%, press time of 7min and the panel thickness of 12 mm in light of gaining the highest internal bonding (0.95 MPa).