Alao, Percy
- Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Tallinn University of Technology
The growing interest in renewable energy affects the demand for plywood in transportation and construction. However, fire safety demands frequently restrict its application as subfloors, roof sheathing, and wall panels. Moreover, using underutilized timber species like aspen is essential to maximizing the efficiency of wood resources. Hence, this study investigates the impact of fire retardant (FR)-treated aspen face veneer (AFV) thickness on the fire performance of combiplywood (ply) composed of 1.0 mm, 1.5 mm, and 2.0 mm AFVs and a 12 mm birch core. The FR consists of a novel fire retardant (FR) formulated from bisphosphonate acid and an alkanol amine. Results indicate that thicker AFV reduces plywood density, with a 5.7% decrease observed using 2.0 mm AFV compared to 1.0 mm. The FR treatment enhanced fire performance, particularly for 2.0 mm AFV. While both 1.5 mm and 2.0 mm AFV exhibited comparable total heat release (THR) and maximum average rate of heat release (MARHE), the 2.0 mm AFV demonstrated lower temperature transmission compared to thinner veneers. Notably, FR treatment reversed the fundamental protection time increase found with increasing AFV thickness in untreated panels, indicating a complicated interplay between FR and AFV on fire behavior. These findings suggest the promising potential of further developing FR treatments for plywood.
Aspen; Fire retardant; Fire test; Heat release; Plywood; Veneer
Title: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 11TH EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON WOOD MODIFICATION
Publisher: SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG
11th European Conference on Wood Modification-ECWM, APR 15-16, 2024, Florence, ITALY
Wood Science
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/145299