Development of a One-Step Process for Production of Foam Core Particleboards using Rigid Polyurethane Foam

• Main Authors: Ali Shalbafan, Kamran Choupani Chaydarreh, Johannes Welling
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: North Carolina State University 2016-09-01
• Series: BioResources
• Subjects: Lightweight; Sandwich; Foam core particleboards; Rigid foam; Polyurethane
• Online Access: http://ojs.cnr.ncsu.edu/index.php/BioRes/article/view/BioRes_11_4_9480_Shalbafan_Production_Foam_Core_Particleboards

A simulated one-step process has been developed for the production of foam core particleboards using rigid polyurethane as the core layer. The results showed that the different techniques used for surface layer separation (unresinated particles and sprayed water) and foam injections (open system and closed system) had no influences on panels’ characteristics. Mechanical properties (e.g., bending strength and internal bond strength) were mostly influenced by the surface layer thickness, while the water absorption and edge screw withdrawal were influenced by the foam cell structure. The use of sprayed water for surface layer separation doubled the formaldehyde emission (FE) of the panels. The addition of urea (based on 10% of the dry resin) to the sprayed water had a positive effect of reducing the final FE. Furthermore, increasing the surface layer thickness had a positive, linear relationship with FE.