DIMENSIONAL STABILITY OF LAMINATED VENEER LUMBERS MANUFACTURED BY USING DIFFERENT ADHESIVES AFTER THE STEAM TEST

ABSTRACT Composite materials manufactured from wood with different adhesives are being used increasingly in the construction of furniture frames and buildings. In this study, LVLs were manufactured from pine ( Pinus sylvestris L.), poplar ( Populus tremula L.) and mulbery ( Morus alba L.) veneers with phenolformaldehyde (PF), polyvinyl acetate (PVAc), Desmodur-VTKA (D-VTKA) and urea –formaldehyde (UF) adhesives. Dimensional stability of LVL were measured after being exposed to steam for 2,6,12,24,48 and 96 hour-period according to the procedure of the Turkish Standards (TS) 3639. As a result, the highest density was determined for LVL with PF adhesive in all wood species. The highest weight increment as 113 % for poplar control , the highest radial swelling as 7.99 % for mulberry control, the highest tangential swelling as 5.7 % for mulberry control and the highest longitudinal swelling as 0.58 % for mulberry LVL with PF and PVAc adhesive were determined after being exposed to 96 h steam. Mulberry wood and VTKA and UF are proposed to manufacture of LVL used in damp condition