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Journal of the Indian Academy ofWood Science ISSN 0972-172X J Indian Acad Wood SciDOI 10.1007/s13196-014-0109-z

Physical and mechanical properties ofmedium density fiber board (MDF)fabricated from banana plant (Musasapientum) stem and midrib

Md. Mamunur Rashid, Atanu KumarDas, Md. Iftekhar Shams & Subir KumarBiswas

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Physical and mechanical properties of medium density fiber board(MDF) fabricated from banana plant (Musa sapientum) stemand midrib

Md. Mamunur Rashid • Atanu Kumar Das •

Md. Iftekhar Shams • Subir Kumar Biswas

Received: 15 May 2013 / Accepted: 2 March 2014

� Indian Academy of Wood Science 2014

Abstract This study was under taken to identify the

physical and mechanical properties of medium-density

fiberboard (MDF) made from banana plant (Musa sapien-

tum) and to evaluate the potential use of banana plant as a

raw material of MDF. Two types of board were produced

namely banana stem and mid rib of banana leaf MDF.

Properties of both types of board compared with market

MDF. Physical and mechanical properties were examined.

The density of banana stem MDF, mid rib of banana leaf

MDF and market MDF were respectively 0.78, 0.74 and

0.72 g/cm3. The MOR of banana stem MDF, mid rib of

banana leaf MDF and market MDF was 50.91, 45.30 and

40.65 N/mm2, respectively. The MOE for banana stem

MDF, mid rib of banana leaf MDF and market MDF was

3,939.25, 3,606.17 and 3,518.63 N/mm2, respectively. The

physical and mechanical properties of the both types of

board were better than market MDF. The both types of

board follow the standard and it can be a good source of

raw material for MDF industries.

Keywords Banana � Physical properties � Mechanical

properties � Modulus of rupture (MOR) � Modulus of

elasticity (MOE)

Introduction

Medium-density fiberboard (MDF) is a fibrous felted and

homogeneous panel produced using wood or other ligno-

cellulosic fibers combined with synthetic or other suitable

adhesives under heat and pressure (ANSI A208.2 1994).

The production of fiberboard has been increasing consis-

tently for its numerous advantages over solid wood and

other composite materials. Most end-use requirements are

meeting by uniform fiber distribution of fiber boards in

their structure. Smooth and solid edges of fiberboards can

easily be machined and finished for various purposes,

especially furniture production. Smooth and uniform sur-

faces also provide an excellent substrate for paint and

decorative overlays. The surface smoothness of MDF

makes it the best material for cabinet manufacturing (Co-

pur et al. 2008).

Various advantages of MDF, worldwide economic

growth and development have generated unprecedented

needs for converted forest product of MDF. The other forest

products such as pulp and paper, plywood and lumber are

also demandable and this global demand started with the

advent of the industrial revolution resulting in aggressive

deforestation (Youngquist et al. 1993; Adger and Brown

1994). Agricultural residues can resolve this type of problem

and utilization of them in wood industry offers numerous

economic, environmental and technological advantages.

Md. M. Rashid � Md. I. Shams

Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University,

Khulna 9208, Bangladesh

e-mail: mamun08ku@yahoo.com

Md. I. Shams

e-mail: shams_rish@yahoo.com

A. K. Das (&) � S. K. Biswas

Pulp and Paper Technology, Asian Institute of Technology,

58 Moo 9, Km. 42, Paholyothin Highway Klong Luang,

Pathumthani 12120, Thailand

e-mail: atanufwt03ku@yahoo.com

S. K. Biswas

e-mail: subir36@gmail.com

Md. I. Shams

Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto

University, Kyoto, Japan

123

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DOI 10.1007/s13196-014-0109-z

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These are renewable, widespread, plentiful and use them in

the industry is environment friendly practice (Akgul et al.

2010).

Several studies have been conducted to examine the

suitability of agricultural residues in wood industry to

overcome the shortage of wood. Some researchers provide

accounts of world-wide research considering the utilization

of non-wood plants in the forest based industry (Chow

1974; Youngquist et al. 1993; Youngquist et al. 1994).

Several researchers also examined the using of wheat

straw, cotton stalk, sun flower stalk and husk for the pro-

duction of composites (Eroglu and Istek 2000; Gencer et al.

2001; Guler and Ozen 2004; Bektas et al. 2005; Copur

et al. 2008). Banana fiber has high specific strength and it

helps to make light weight composites (Ghosh et al. 2011).

In this study, it was tried to identify the physical and

mechanical properties of banana MDF and to evaluate the

potential use of banana MDF.

Materials and methods

The bananas stem and mid rib of banana leaf used in the

study was grown in Khulna university campus, Khulna

(22�800N and 89�530E), Bangladesh. The stem and mid rib

were dried in air. Air dried stem and mid rib were chipped

into 1 inch in length as well. The both types of chip were

submerged in 19 % sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution for

24 h separately and washed them properly to remove the

chemical.

Deliberation of both types of washed chip was done

using one 25 cm single disc laboratory atmospheric refiner

and the refined fibers were then dried in the air. In the next,

these were dried in an oven at 103 �C to reduce moisture

content at 4 % and dried fibers were kept in sealed plastic

bags separately until used.

In this study, urea formaldehyde was used 20 % on the

dry weight basis as a binding agent for both types of board

i.e. banana stem and midrib of banana leaf MDF. A blender

was used to mix uniformly adhesive with fiber for both

cases. Then mats were formed on a steel sheet using an iron

frame. The mats were pressed in a hot press for 8 min. at

3 N/mm2 pressure and the temperature was 170 �C. The

boards were trimmed to their final dimensions of

30 9 30 cm2 and kept in the conditioning room for 12 h.

The market MDF was collected from Akij Particleboard

Mills Ltd., Tora (23�860N and 89�950E), Ghior, Manikgonj,

Bangladesh which was produced using same procedure

(personal communication).

The laboratory tests of physical properties and

mechanical properties for three types of board were carried

out respectively in the Wood Technology Laboratory of

Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline of Khulna

University, Bangladesh and in the Laboratory of Mechan-

ical Engineering Department of Khulna University of

Engineering and Technology, Khulna, Bangladesh. The

tests of physical properties were carried out according to

ASTM D 1037-100 (ASTM 2006) standard procedures.

Mechanical properties were performed according to DIN

52362 (DIN 1984).

All the data, obtained during the laboratory tests for

characterization of physical and mechanical properties of

each type of fiberboards, were analyzed by using Microsoft

Office Excel 2007 and SPSS (Statistical Package of Social

Survey) 11.5 software.

Results and discussion

Physical properties

The density of banana stem, mid rib of banana leaf and

market MDF was respectively 0.78, 0.74 and 0.72 g/cm3

(Fig. 1). The banana stem MDF showed the highest value

for density but it was the lowest for market MDF. Statis-

tical analysis also showed the significant difference (95 %

level of significance) among the three types of board

(df = 2, F = 30.12 and P \ 0.05).

Fig. 1 Density of banana stem, mid rib of banana leaf and market

MDF

Fig. 2 Water absorption of banana stem, mid rib of banana leaf and

market MDF

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The water absorption was 38.49, 39.01 and 40.12 %

respectively for banana stem, mid rib of banana leaf and

market MDF (Fig. 2). The water absorption was the lowest

for banana stem MDF whether market MDF showed the

highest value of water absorption. There was significant

difference (95 % level of significance) among the water

absorption of three types of board (df = 2, F = 67.23 and

P \ 0.05). This is lower compare to bagasse MDF

(76.40 %) (Hosseinabadi et al. 2008).

The thickness swelling of banana stem, mid rib of

banana leaf and market MDF was 15.70, 16.65 and 20.9 %

respectively (Fig. 3). Market MDF showed the highest

value of thickness swelling whether it was the lowest for

banana stem MDF. The difference of thickness swelling

was significant (9 % level of significance) among the three

types of board (df = 2, F = 47.95 and P \ 0.05). It was

31.90 and 40.5 % respectively for bagasse and heat straw

MDF (Hosseinabadi et al. 2008; Markessini et al. 1997).

These observations are higher in comparison to present

study.

Mechanical properties

The modulus of rupture (MOR) of banana stem, mid rib of

banana leaf and market MDF was respectively 50.91, 45.30

and 40.65 N/mm2 respectively (Fig. 4). The MOR was the

highest for banana stem MDF but it was the lowest for

market MDF. It was significantly different (95 % level of

significance) among the three types of board (df = 2,

F = 89.11 and P \ 0.05). The MOR increases with the

increasing of density. This trend founds in previous study

(Xie et al. 2011; Das et al. 2012). According to ANSI (NPA

1994), the MOR is 34.5 N/mm2 as well as according

to Desch and Dinwoodie (1996), the standard MOR is

30 N/mm2. The MOR of the three types of board was

higher than that of both standards. The MOR of wheat,

straw and flax MDF were 18.70, 6.00 and 11.30 N/mm2

respectively (Markessini et al. 1997).

Figure 5 shows that the modulus of elasticity (MOE)

was 3,939.25, 3,606.17 and 3,518.63 N/mm2 for banana

stem, mid rib of banana leaf and market MDF respectively.

The MOE was the lowest for market MDF while it was the

highest for banana stem MDF. Statistical analysis showed

that there was significant difference (95 % level of sig-

nificance) among the MOE of three types of board (df = 2,

F = 98.35 and P \ 0.05). Density influences the MOE and

it increases with the increasing of density (Xie et al. 2011;

Das et al. 2012). According to ANSI (NPA 1994) and

Desch and Dinwoodie (1996), the standard MOE is 3450

and 2500 N/mm2. The MOE of three types follow the both

standards and it was higher.

Conclusion

The banana stem and mid rib of banana leaf MDF shows

better performance for both cases i.e. physical and

mechanical properties than market MDF. The both types of

board follow the standard and show higher value than that.

The properties of the boards are also higher than some

other MDF made from agricultural fiber. These show that

there is a possibility to use them as an alternative raw

material for MDF industries. Further study is necessary to

Fig. 3 Thickness swelling of banana stem, mid rib of banana leaf and

market MDFFig. 4 MOR of banana stem, mid rib of banana leaf and market MDF

Fig. 5 MOE of banana stem, mid rib of banana leaf and market MDF

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determine the effect of percentage of adhesive on the board

properties.

Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank Civil Engi-

neering Department of Khulna University of Engineering and Tech-

nology, Khulna, Bangladesh for their co-operation to do test the

mechanical properties of the board.

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