Orientation of OSB and particleboard strands for high-strength oriented strand lumber and panel products

A prototype multiple deck orienter design is capable of orienting nominally 6-inch oriented strandboards (OSB) strands to give a mean angular deviation of about 8 degrees at a height above the mat of 1 inch and with appropriate scaling, to orient nominally 0.6-inch particleboard strands to give a mean angular deviation of 12 degrees at a height above the mat of 0.25 inch. Test panels made with nominally 6-inch OSB strands oriented to a mean angular deviation close to 10 degrees and bonded with phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin had face (flat orientation) modulus of elasticity (MOE) values of close to 2.0 Mpsi. Test panels made with nominally 0.6-inch particleboard strands oriented to a mean angular deviation close to 12 degrees had face MOE values of 1.42 Mpsi, when bonded with PF resin, and 1.09 Mpsi when bonded with cement.