Compression behavior of randomly formed wood flake mats

A theoretical model for the prediction of compression response of a randomly formed flake mat is developed.The model rigorously relates the overall mat response to local mat structure and individual flake properties.The compression behavior of single flakes, flake columns, and random flake mats is experimentally determined.Satisfactory agreement is found between the predicted and experimentally obtained results.Equations are also derived for the calculation of the relative volumetric change of between-and inside-flake voids in a mat and the change of relative flake-to-flake bonded area during the course of mat densification.Typical predictive outputs are presented and discussed.