Orientation effect on the physical and mechanical properties of strand cement boards

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the effect of the strand orientation on the physical and mechanical properties of strand cement boards. To evaluate the orientation effect, non-oriented strand cement boards (i) and oriented strand cement boards (ii) were produced and assessed using two different wood species, with three-strand contents. The boards physical and mechanical properties were evaluated following the recommendations of the European Standards EN 317, EN 323 and EN 310, respectively. For non-oriented and oriented strand cement boards, physical properties of thickness swelling (TS) showed that almost all strand contents studied for both wood species were close to that required by ISO 8335. With regard to the orientation effect on the mechanical properties of the modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) of the boards. It was found a significant improvement for the MOR and MOE of the oriented boards in comparison to those non-oriented. In addition, the boards tested on the parallel of the strand performed better mechanically (around 119% for MOR and 106% for MOE) in comparison with the boards tested on the perpendicular of the strand.