Preliminary studies on properties of compressed veneer panels from oil palm trunk made without synthetic adhesive

Abstract

Compressed veneer panels were manufactured using various numbers of plies and pressed at a temperature of 160°C and pressure of 5 MPa for duration of 20 min. The mechanical and physical properties of the panels such as compression ratio, modulus of rupture (MOR), thickness swelling (TS) and water absorption (WA) were evaluated based on Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS). Based on the results, compressed veneer panels made with 5 layers of veneer showed the highest value of MOR compared to the other panels. Dimensional stability, thickness swelling and water absorption increased when the numbers of plies increased. The findings showed that veneers can possibly be pressed without addition of synthetic binder and the numbers of plies did affect the properties of the final panel.