VARIATION IN SELECTED PROPERTIES OF INDUSTRIAL GRADE PARTICLEBOARD

Information about the variability of physical and mechanical propertie s of industrial grade particle-board is seldom made available. In this study, 3/8-inch particleboard was obtained for evaluation from seven different sources that commonly supply the same kitchen cabinet manufa cturer. The following properties were investigated for each of these s ources: Young's modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), internal bond strength (IB), surface bond strength, screw withdrawal from both the face and the edge, density, linear expansion, and moistu re content (MC). For each property, the mean and associated coefficien t of variation (COV) was determined for each source. Additionally, a m ultiple-range test at alpha = 0.05 was applied to compare results amon g suppliers. All suppliers met minimum requirements of MOR, MOE, and I B for American National Standards Institute grade 1-M-1 particleboard, but only five suppliers met those values specified for the 1-M-2 grad e. Considering IB, all suppliers exceeded the 60 psi requirement by mo re than two times and no significant difference was found among their means. For all other properties, however, significantly different grou pings of suppliers were observed to exist and values varied substantia lly. When comparing lowest-to-highest means of properties among suppli ers (with the exception of IB, density, and MC), the differences range d from 37 percent for MOE to over 150 percent for linear expansion. Co nsidering property data for all suppliers collectively (excluding dens ity and MC), overall COV ranged from a low of 14 percent for IB to a h igh of 35 percent for linear expansion.