Physical mechanical and microstructural of bio-composite lumber made from compressed oil palm fronds

• Main Author: Mohd Sukhairi Mat Rasat
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: SB183-317 Field crops Including cereals, forage crops, grasses, legumes, root crops, sugar plants, textile plants, alkaloidal plants, medicinal plants
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/43499/1/24%20PAGES.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/43499/2/FULLTEXT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/43499/

The physical, mechanical and microstructures properties of bio-composite lumber made from compressed oil palm fronds were studied. Resins of phenol and urea formaldehyde were used as the binders. The oil palm fronds were obtained from an eight years old oil palm plantation in Kota Belud, Sabah. The fronds were segregated into three groups of maturity, which were old, intermediate and young oil palm fronds; meanwhile each maturity group was divided into three portions, which were bottom, middle and top portion. The leaflets and epidermis were removed from the fronds before they were sliced longitudinally into thin layers. The layers were then compressed into uniform thickness of 2-3 mm. The layers were air-dried and later mixed with resins using 12-15% of phenol and urea formaldehyde and recompressed with other layers forming biocomposite lumber. The bio-composite lumber was then tested for their physical and mechanical properties. Testing was conducted in accordance to the International Organization for standardization (ISO) standard. The result on the physical and mechanical properties show that the compressed oil palm fronds bio-composite lumber from bottom portion of old maturity group possessed the highest values in physical and mechanical testing compared the others. Statistical analysis indicated significant differences between bio-composite lumber made from each groups and portions, but no differences were observed in the type of resin used. The bio-composite lumber from compressed oil palm fronds has potential to be used as an alternative to wood to overcome the shortage in materials in the wood industry.