Subject Area
Production Engineering and Mechanical Design
Article Type
Original Study
Abstract
The present paper is concerned with the utilization of local resources, available in Arab Countries, to produce and fabricate products replacing the imported wood products. Palm leaves midribs were successfully used to manufacture products equivalent to plywood, laminated wood and particleboards. A wide variety of products were fabricated from palm leaves midribs. These were: plywood boards made up of three layers each 1 mm thick, laminated boards of various thicknesses, particleboards made of particles and/or flax from the midribs with varying percentage of particles and flax, which led to the production of fine, medium and coarse particleboards. These products were totally made from palm leaves midribs. The mechanical and physical tests, recommended to evaluate the mechanical and physical properties of the products according to ASTM Standards, were performed. The properties of the palm leaves midribs products were compared with those gained from tests carried out on similar wood products. The performed tests included: tension, compression, surface hardness, static bending, swelling and fire tests. For plywood, tests were carried out on the specimens in both the direction of longitudinal surface fibers and normal to the surface fibers. The results have clarified that the mechanical properties of palm leaves midribs products were lower by about 30% than those of similar products made of wood. This necessitate the utilization of palm leaves midribs products in all wood applications subjected to moderate or light loads. The palm fabricated products also possess very good appearance without any surface defects.
Recommended Citation
Mohamed, Moustafa and Abou Khashaba, Abd El-Malek
(2021)
"Fabrication of Plywood, Laminated Sheets and Particleboards from Palm Leaves Midribs.,"
Mansoura Engineering Journal: Vol. 21
:
Iss.
3
, Article 8.
Available at:
https://doi.org/10.21608/bfemu.2021.159921
