Physical and mechanical properties of particleboard manufactured from wood, bamboo and rice husk

In this work, the physical-mechanical properties of particleboards manufactured with wood (Eucalyptus grandis), bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris) and/or rice husk (Oryza sativa) particles, combined or not, were assessed. They were produced in the following proportions: 100% wood; 100% bamboo; 100% rice; 50% wood and 50% bamboo; 50% wood and 50% rice husk. In order to characterize the manufactured particleboards, their physical (density; moisture content; water absorption and thickness swelling) and mechanical properties (static bending; internal bonding and screw withdrawal) were assessed. The results indicated that the use of rice husk caused reduction in particleboard quality. Particleboards manufactured with bamboo showed better quality than those using rice husk as raw material. For most parameters, the particleboards manufactured exclusively with wood particles showed similar performance to bamboo and wood-bamboo particleboards.