Comparison of foam core materials in innovative lightweight wood-based panels

In the present paper, lightweight wood-based foam core panels were produced in a novel continuous process. Expandable microspheres (MS) and expandable polystyrene (EPS) were used as core materials. The influence of surface thickness and core materials on bending strength, internal bond and specific strength of the produced panel were investigated. With increasing the surface thickness, bending strength was increased in both core types of panels. The internal bond value of the panels with expandable microspheres was steadily raised while the surface thickness was increased. The internal bond for the expandable polystyrene with increasing face thickness was reduced. In comparison with conventional particleboards, the specific bending strength and internal bond were increased. In addition, FE-SEM-microscopy and gamma-ray densitometry were used to characterize the panels.