PARTICLEBOARDS MADE FROM AUSTRALIAN RED CEDAR: PROCESSING VARIABLES AND EVALUATION OF MIXEDSPECIES

This work was developed in two stages with the following aims: (1) to evaluate physical and mechanical properties of particleboards made from wood residues of toona ciliata with target densities of 0.65 and 0.70 g cm-³ and 6 and 9% adhesive contents, and (2) to compare particleboards made from 100% t. ciliata particles (tc) with particleboards made from 50% t. ciliata particles mixed with 50% pinus oocarpa particles (tc/p) or 50% eucalyptus hybrid clone particles (tc/e). in the first stage, best results were obtained with 9% urea-formaldehyde and target density of 0.70 g cm-³. these processing variables were chosen for the production of mixed-species particleboards in the second stage of the work. tc particleboards had higher mechanical properties than mixed-species particleboards. for physical properties, tc particleboards were similar to tc/p particleboards. tc/e particleboards showed lowest results of mechanical properties and highest values of physical properties, and they are also suitable for interior applications. the results showed great potential in using wood residues of t. ciliata alone or mixed with eucalyptus or pinus species in particleboard production.