In our research, we examined the use and properties of a composite similar to particleboard made from miller’s bran. The collected bran was dried and separated into two size classes: fine fractions (sieves with openings of 1.0 mm and smaller) and large fractions (sieves with openings of 1.27 mm and larger). Subsequently, the bran was coated with urea-formaldehyde adhesive and a series of experiments were conducted. We produced single-layer boards (using all fractions) to test the effect of adhesive content, and three-layer boards to investigate the effect of density. For the single-layer boards, all fractions were used (with adhesive content ranging from 7.5% to 20%), while for the three-layer boards, fine fractions were used for the outer layers (with 20% adhesive content), and coarse fractions were used for the middle layer (with 20% adhesive content). The produced boards were tested for thickness and density, bending strength and elastic modulus, internal bond strength, and thickness swelling. The results suggest that these boards could be suitable for basic uses like packaging and products where high strength is not required.
|