Mechanical properties of medium density fibreboard made from admixture of date palm branches and bahan wood in several commercial trials

The combination of wood and non-wood resources to produce wood composite products has become popular due to increased awareness of circular business practices. A commercial trial of medium density fiberboard (MDF) was carried out using a mixture of 50% date palm branches and 50% Bahan wood with six trials. The density of the MDF produced in the ranged of 663.33 kg/m3 to 706.00 kg/m3. This study investigates the effect of batch trial on modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR) and internal bonding (IB) of the MDF. All the trial boards meet the minimum requirement of MOE (2000 MPa) except for trial no.2 (1997.33 MPa). For MOR value, only trial no. 3 met the minimum requirement of 23 MPa. Meanwhile, the majority of the MDF boards produced in this study did not meet the minimum requirement for IB. The findings revealed that some trial boards failed to meet the minimum MOR, MOE, and IB requirements. There was a significant positive correlation between density and MOR (r = 0.706) and MOE (r = 0.514), implying that the MOR and MOE of MDF board increased as density increased. A significant negative correlation (r = 0.495) was found between density and IB, indicating that IB decreased as board density increased. As a result, it was recommended that the MDF have a density of at least 706 kg/m3 in order to meet the standard's minimum requirements