A research on the physical and mechanical properties of cement-bonded board using coconut fiber and shell

• Main Authors: Chu, Sheila Bennett, Dino, Enmelda Tan, Ong, Mary Elaine G.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1995
• Subjects: Cement > Additives; Strength of materials; Coconut products; Fibers; Building materials; Civil Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/5793
• Institution: De La Salle University

The limitation of the world's natural resources necessitate full use of renewable resources especially agricultural fibrous wastes such as coconut husks and shells. To test the possibility of using these indigenous materials as raw materials in cement-bonded particleboard (CBB), panel boards with dimensions of 30cm by 30cm were produced bearing different combinations of densities and cement-materials ratios. The technical feasibility of the said product is based on the physical and mechanical properties the former includes dimensional stability, water absorption, density, thickness swelling and dimensions of the CBB while the latter includes moduli of elasticity and rupture, internal bonding, and nail head pull theory. Since this is the first time that coconut shells were introduced as raw materials as CBB, the group only conducted this experiment to determine the resulting behavior and compare with previous studies on CBB's. Using linear regression the group was able to pick out the best boards and conclude that the shells in one way or another improves the quality of the board. The ratios with the most consistent properties for MOR -- 25/75 S/F ratio for IB -- 28.6/57.2 C/M ratio by physical appearance -- 25/75 S/F ratio. However, future studies are still recommended by the group regarding the binding agent, manufacturing process and the type of CBB adopted.