Lightweight Wood Composites: Challenges, Production and Performance

Abstract

Wood composites are materials made by bonding together wood and adhesives into a large material that can be used for different purposes. Nowadays, lightweight materials play an important role in several industries: aerospace, building and furniture. The reduction of weight is desirable for economic reasons (materials and transportation costs) and environmental reasons (resources, eco-efficiency). Once wood composites are employed in these industries, low density is a desired property. There are several options in the market to reduce the weight of composites, such as the use of low-density wood species, lower compaction of the wooden mat, incorporation of light fillers in the core layer of the panel, or use of sandwich panels with honeycomb core. All these strategies have challenges with respect to manufacturing, machinability (connections and lamination of the edges) and performance (physico-mechanical properties).