Fracture energy vs. internal bond strength – mechanical characterization of wood-based panels

Abstract

A new testing method measuring the specific fracture energy of wood-based panels in Mode I is proposed. Three types of wood-based panels, i.e. oriented strand board (OSB), particleboard (PB) and medium density fibreboard (MDF) are investigated, using fracture energy and the industrial European standard method of internal bond strength according to EN 319. Double cantilever beam specimens are notched in the middle layer to introduce an initial crack. To apply tensile load perpendicular to the surface of the panels to open the crack in Mode I specimens were adhesively bonded to steel braces. Besides the calculation of the total fracture energy an advanced analysis of the load–displacement curve was also performed. Results of the fracture energy method were compared to internal bond strength (IB). Specimen shape is optimized for industrial purposes using double cantilever beams, while the determination of the fracture energy is performed by simple integration of the load–displacement curve. While IB showed a large scattering of data, the fracture energy test yielded statistically significant differences between the board types.

Keywords:

• Fracture energy
• wood-based panels
• double cantilever beam

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support by the Competence Centre for Wood Composites and Wood Chemistry (Wood K plus) as well as by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).