Influence of needle-punching treatment and pressure on selected properties of medium density fiberboard made of bamboo (Dendrocalamus strictus Roxb. Nees)

In this study, Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) was manufactured from bamboo (Dendrocalamus strictus Roxb. Nees) fibers and phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resins at different hot-pressing pressures using a novel needle-punching treatment to improve the properties of the panel. One-, two-, three- and four-time needle-punching treatments (1TP, 2TP, 3TP, and 4TP) were used in this work. Laboratory MDF panels were prepared by mixing bamboo fibers with 10% of PF resins. The needle-punching treatments were applied simultaneously on resinated bamboo fibers during the mat formation. The MDF mats were then hot-pressed at 14.0, 17.5, 21.0 kg/cm2 and at 150 °C for 15 min. Thereafter, the physical and mechanical properties of MDF panels were evaluated as per Indian Standard (IS) specification IS: 12406. It was observed that the combination of novel needle-punching technique and hot-pressing pressure enhanced the physical and mechanical properties of MDF panels. Statistical analysis suggested that a combination of 3TP and 21.0 kg/cm2 of pressures produced the MDF panel with satisfactory results. The research indicated that a combination of needle-punching treatment and hot-pressing pressure could be an excellent technique to improve the properties of the MDF panel.