COMPARISON ON TENSILE AND IMPACT STRENGTH OF MEDIUM DENSITY FIBERBOARD (MDF) FABRICATED FROM EMPTY FRUIT BUNCH (EFB) AND RUBBER WOOD

摘要

The suitability of using EFB and rubber wood fibers as a raw material in the manufacturer of medium density fiberboard was studied. Tensile and impact strength of MDF consisting polyurethane as a resin were investigated. The aim of this research was to investigate the use of oil palm and rubber wood fibers as reinforcement in polyurethane composite. The study was performed to compare the reaction of the matrix with the different type of fibers at a various percentage. The result has shown that the impact strength of the EFB board is higher than a rubber wood board. However the Young's Modulus shows of rubber wood board is higher than EFB board. An increasing percentage of the fibers in the board increased the tensile and impact strength of the both type of the boards. The result indicated that all board properties are fall within the industrial standards.