Evaluation of wood-based panel durability using bending properties after accelerated aging treatments

The durability of wood-based panels was evaluated by comparing the bending properties of panels subjected to five accelerated aging treatments with the bending properties of panels that had experienced 5 years of outdoor exposure in Shizuoka City, Japan. In each accelerated aging treatment, methylene diphenyl diisocyanate-bonded panels showed higher bending retention than phenol formaldehyde (PF)-bonded panels. The bending retentions after six repeated cycles of the JIS-B, APA D-1, and ASTM treatments showed a correspondence of nearly one-to-one in the data for the three different treatments. The Shizuoka City 5-year outdoor exposure test data showed that the bending retentions of all panels decreased with time. In particular, the bending retentions of PF resin-bonded particleboard and oriented strandboard made from aspen were less than 30% and 10% of the original values, respectively, after the 5-year exposure period. The deterioration of the bending properties after the 5-year outdoor exposure in Shizuoka City was the same as that for six repetitions of the ASTM treatment.