Analysis of the influence of larch fibers and particles on selected properties of fiber- and particleboards

Analysis of the influence of larch fibers and particles on selected properties of fiberand particleboards. The paper presents the results of the research on the effect of the addition of fibers and particles obtained from European larch wood (Larix decidua Mill) from plantations on selected properties of fiberand particleboards in comparison to the boards of the same structure based on typical industrial raw material (pine wood) uses by European wood based panels industry. The differences were shown in the tests, i.e.: modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity in static bending (MOE), internal bond (IB), thickness swelling after 2 and 24 hours soaking in water and density profile. In the MOR and MOE tests, larch boards with a minimum 50% fiber share were characterized by comparable values of the properties determined to pine boards, while in the other variants, boards made of pine wood had better properties. In most cases, the larch boards were characterized by significantly lower values of swelling by thickness (with the exception of boards made of fibers) than boards made of wood from forest cultivation. The density profile of the boards on the cross-section of the plantation raw material did not differ from the boards made of pine raw material. Key-words: European larch, plantations, plantation cultivation, particle-fibrous boards, properties of wood-