Particle board

Particle board, also known as chipboard or low-density

fiberboard, is an engineered wood product manufactured from
wood chips and a synthetic resin or other suitable binder, which is
pressed and extruded.[1] Particle board is often confused with
oriented strand board (OSB) (also known as flakeboard, or
waferboard), a different type of fiberboard that uses machined
wood flakes and offers more strength.

Particleboard with veneer

Contents
Characteristics
History and development
Manufacturing
Furniture design
Safety
See also
References
External links

Characteristics
Particle board is cheaper, denser and more uniform than
conventional wood and plywood and is substituted for them when
cost is more important than strength and appearance. Particleboard
can be made more appealing by painting or the use of wood
veneers on visible surfaces. Though it is denser than conventional
wood, it is the lightest and weakest type of fiberboard, except for
insulation board. Medium-density fibreboard and hardboard, also
called high-density fiberboard, are stronger and denser than
particleboard. Different grades of particleboard have different
densities, with higher density connoting greater strength and greater
resistance to failure of screw fasteners.
Cross section of a particle board

A significant disadvantage of particleboard is its susceptibility to

expansion and discoloration from moisture absorption, particularly
when it is not covered with paint or another sealer. Therefore, it is rarely used outdoors or in places where
there are high levels of moisture, except in bathrooms, kitchens and laundries, where it is commonly used
as an underlayment shielded beneath a moisture resistant continuous sheet of vinyl flooring.
In dry environments, veneered particleboard is preferred over veneered plywood because of its stability,
lower cost, and convenience.

History and development

Particleboard originated in Germany. It was first produced in 1887, when Hubbard made so-called
"artificial wood" from wood flour and an adhesive based on albumin, which was consolidated under high
temperature and pressure.[2]

During the Second World War, phenolic resin was more readily accessible than top-grade wood veneer in
Germany, and Luftwaffe pilot and inventor Max Himmelheber played a role in making the first sheets of
particleboard, which were little more than pourings of floor sweepings, wood chips, and ground-up off-cuts
and glue.[3] The first commercial piece was produced during the Second World War at a factory in Bremen,
Germany. For its production, waste material was used, such as planer shavings, off-cuts or sawdust,
hammer-milled into chips and bound together with a phenolic resin. Hammer-milling involves smashing
material into smaller and smaller pieces until they can pass through a screen. Most other early particleboard
manufacturers used similar processes, though often with slightly different resins.

It was found that better strength, appearance and resin economy could be achieved by using more uniform,
manufactured chips. Producers began processing solid birch, beech, alder, pine and spruce into consistent
chips and flakes; these finer layers were then placed on the outside of the board, with its core composed of
coarser, cheaper chips. This type of board is known as three-layer particleboard.

More recently, graded-density particleboard has also evolved. It

contains particles that gradually become smaller as they get closer
to the surface.

Manufacturing
Particleboard or chipboard is manufactured by mixing particles or
flakes of wood or jute-stick together with a resin and forming the
Jute-stick Particle board
mixture into a sheet. The raw material is fed into a disc chipper
manufacturing process
with between four and sixteen radially arranged blades. The chips
from disk chippers are more uniform in shape and size than from
other types of wood chippers. The particles are then dried, and any oversize or undersized particles are
screened out.

Resin is then sprayed as a fine mist onto the particles. Several types of resins are used in the procces.
Amino-formaldehyde based resins are the best performing based on cost and ease of use. Urea melamine
resins offer water resistance with more melamine offering higher resistance. It is typically used in external
applications, with the coloured resin darkening the panel. To further enhance the panel properties,
resorcinol resins can be mixed with phenolic resins, but that is more often used with marine plywood
applications.

Panel production involves other chemicals including wax, dyes, wetting agents and release agents, to aid
processing or make the final product resistant to water, fire or insects.

After the particles pass through a mist of resin sufficient to coat all surfaces, they are layered into a
continuous carpet. This 'carpet' is then separated into discrete, rectangular 'blankets' which will be
compacted in a cold press. A scale weighs the flakes, and they are distributed by rotating rakes. In graded-
density particleboard, the flakes are spread by an air jet that throws finer particles further than coarse ones.
Two such jets, reversed, allow the particles to build up from fine to coarse and back to fine.

The formed sheets are cold-compressed to reduce thickness and make them easier to transport. Later, they
are compressed again, under pressures between 2 and 3 megapascals (290 and 440 psi) and temperatures
between 140 and 220 °C (284 and 428 °F) to set and harden the glue. The entire process is controlled to
ensure the correct size, density and consistency of the board.

The boards are then cooled, trimmed and sanded. They can then be sold as raw board or surface improved
through the addition of a wood veneer or laminate surface.

Furniture design
Particle board has had a huge influence on furniture design. In the early 1950s, particle board kitchens
started to come into use in furniture construction but, in many cases, it remained more expensive than solid
wood. A particle board kitchen was only available to the very wealthy. Once the technology was more
developed, particle board became cheaper.

Some large companies base their strategies around providing furniture at a low price. To do this, they use
the least expensive materials possible. In almost all cases, this means particle board, medium-density
fibreboard (MDF), or the like. However, in order to maintain a reputation for quality at low cost,
manufacturers may use higher grades of particle board, e.g., higher density particle board, thicker particle
board, or particle board using higher-quality resins. One may note the amount of sag in a shelf of a given
width in order to draw the distinction.

In general, the much lower cost of sheet goods (particle board, medium density fiberboard, and other
engineered wood products) has helped to displace solid wood from many cabinetry applications.

Safety
Safety concerns exist for both manufacturing and use. Fine dust and chemicals are released when
particleboard is machined (e.g., sawing or routing). Occupational exposure limits exist in many countries
recognizing the hazard of wood dusts.[4] Cutting particle board can release formaldehyde, carbon
monoxide, hydrogen cyanide in the case of amino resins, and phenol in the case of phenol formaldehyde
resins.[5]

The other safety concern is the slow release of formaldehyde over time. In 1984 concerns about the high
indoor levels of formaldehyde in new manufactured homes led the United States Department of Housing
and Urban Development to set construction standards. Particleboard (PB), medium-density fibreboard
(MDF), oriented strand board (OSB), and laminated flooring have been major sources of formaldehyde
emissions. In response to consumer and woodworker pressure on the industry, PB and MDF became
available in "no added formaldehyde" (NAF) versions, but were not in common use as of 2015. Many
other building materials such as furniture finish, carpeting and caulking give off formaldehyde, as well as
urea-formaldehyde foam insulation, which is banned in Canada for installation in a residential closed cavity
wall.[6] Formaldehyde is classified by the WHO as a known human carcinogen.[7]

See also
Fiberboard
Glued laminated timber
 Masonite
Pressed wood
Waferboard
Haskelite

References
1. "Wood based panel producers in Poland" (http://sppd.pl/en/mdf,-ldf,-hdf.html). sppd.pl.
2. Rowell M., Roger (2013). Handbook of Wood Chemistry and Wood Composites (https://book
s.google.com/books?id=Kn_RBQAAQBAJ). Taylor and Francis Group. ISBN 978-1-4398-
5381-8.
3. "Wood-like mass and process for its production" (https://patents.google.com/patent/CH1820
58A/en).
4. "Wood dust hazards" (https://web.archive.org/web/20091229103016/http://www.hse.gov.uk/p
ubns/wis1.pdf) (PDF). UK HSE. Archived from the original (http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wis
1.pdf) (PDF) on 2009-12-29.
5. McCann, Michael; Babin, Angela (1995). "Certified Master Woodworker" (https://thetedswoo
dworkingreview.com/teds-woodworking-review/). The University of Illinois at Chicago.
Retrieved June 19, 2019.
6. "Formaldehyde Factsheet" (http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/factsheets/formaldehyde.ht
m) (webpage). Illinois Department of Public Health.
7. IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans Volume 88 (2006)
Formaldehyde, 2-Butoxyethanol and 1-tert-Butoxypropan-2-ol (http://monographs.iarc.fr/EN
G/Monographs/vol88/index.php) (pdf, html), WHO Press, 2006( English )

External links
Composite Panel Association: Particleboard (http://www.decorativesurfaces.org/products/par
ticleboard.html)
European Panel Federation: Particleboard (https://web.archive.org/web/20181015112650/ht
tp://europanels.org/products--producers/products/particleboard)

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This page was last edited on 9 October 2022, at 03:46 (UTC).

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