Preliminary Study on Flakeboard Panels Made from Aspen Slash Wood

The disposal of forest-thinning residue is one of the major problems for sustainable forest management. The purpose of this study was to investigate the technical possibility of utilizing aspen logging slash wood with a diameter ranging from 50 to 76 mm for flakeboard production. Influences of weight ratio between slash wood and commercial flakes on the selected mechanical and physical properties of panels were examined. The need of an extra debarking process for panel fabrication was also evaluated. The results indicated the modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), internal bonding, linear expansion (LE), thickness swelling (TS), and water adsorption of flakeboard made from aspen slash wood flakes were all comparable to those properties of panels made from aspen commercial flakes. The flake weight ratio between slash wood and commercial flakes had little impact on panel MOE, MOR, and LE. The statistical analysis (analysis of variance, P < 0.05) showed that the TS of panels made from 100 percent slash wood (22.8%) was significantly lower than the TS of panels made from a mixture of slash wood and commercial flakes or from 100 percent commercial flakes. The results indicate abundant slash wood, which is normally characterized by inferior mechanical and physical properties, could be a valuable resource for commercially available structural panel products.