Evaluation of a Wood-Strand Molded Core Sandwich Panel

Green building practices have created an opportunity for the forest products industry to become a leader in the creation of innovative building products derived from renewable materials. In other industries, sandwich composites have proven to be efficient structures by meeting structural demands of traditional panel products while consuming less material. A prototype molded-core sandwich panel made of span-rated oriented strand board (OSB) facings and a bidirectional molded wood-strand core was produced. Critical mechanical properties were evaluated to determine the feasibility of this product for use in building applications. The goals of this study were to generate details on structural performance of the product, validate the design, and provide suggestions for future product development. Results indicate that this molded-core panel performs particularly well in flexure while connection properties had the largest scope for improvement. Sufficient performance was observed to validate the design, warranting production and testing of panels sized for end-use. Future product development should explore different connection systems, perform detailed engineering analyses of the mechanical properties necessary for complete structural design, and characterize physical properties of the panel.