Production and evaluation of lightweight particle board using expanded polyurethane foam

In recent years, the most important challenge for wood-based compact producers has been an increasing demand for a variety of wood materials, raw material prices, and rising transportation costs. On the other hand, the use of lightweight elements in the manufacture of decoration and furniture has received much attention. The present study aimed at evaluating the effect of different levels of two variables on the size and amount of expanded polyurethane chips in the production of lightweight composite particle boards. To this end, the size of polyurethane particles at three levels (10, 5, and 15 mm) and their amount at four levels (10, 5, 0, and 15%) were chosen as research variables, and the amount of adhesive consumption, press pressure, board thickness, and final density were considered as fixed factors. The results showed that flexural strength, the flexural modulus of elasticity, internal adhesion, and thickness elongation increased significantly with increasing the size of polyurethane particles in the middle layer of the board, but the effect of size was not significant on the water absorption of the samples. Also, increasing the percentage of polyurethane in the middle layer increased the mechanical properties and improved the physical properties compared to the control sample, and it had the largest effect on the internal adhesion of the samples.