GLASS-FIBRE WOOD THE COMPOSITE MATERIALS USED TO CREATE A NEW WOOD LAMINATE

摘要

The world currently faces a big environmental problem: the climatical changes, due to the increasing of the greenhouse effect in association with the decreasement of the green areas, are changing the entire globe. To reduce the quantity of wood used in a wood laminate, a new technology based in composite materials, has been developed in a partnership between the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Engineering Faculty of Oporto University and INEGI. This technology has developed a new material called GLASS FIBRE WOOD (GFW). The GFW is a thermoset matrix laminate without the impregnation in the wood exterior layer, very similar tactile and visually with the usual wood laminates such as Medium-Density Fiberboard (MDF). However, the similarities end there, because the mechanical behavior of the GFW is higher, the environmental impact is lower and the wood and energy consumes are also much lower than the MDF. The GFW makes the adhesion of the wood veneer to the core by a thermoplastic film - in this case PS - and this adhesion is made without external need of energy. Therefore the centre of this presentation is to present this new material and also present the comparison in the mechanical and environmental levels with one of its direct competitor - the MDF. We will also present a moisture degradation study of these two materials.