ORIGINAL Characterization of properties of oriented strand boards from beech and poplar Ali Akrami • Marius C. Barbu • Arno Fruehwald Received: 30 July 2013 / Published online: 3 April 2014 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of using European beech and poplar species to manufacture oriented strand boards (OSB). Beech and poplar strands with three different combinations of face/ core ratios at densities of 650 and 720 kg/m 3 were exam- ined. Poly methylene diphenyl diisocyanate glue at 5 % was used with press conditions of 180 °C and 240 s. Findings showed that with increasing density the physical and mechanical properties of the different OSB combina- tions generally improved. Panels made of 60 % beech in face layers showed higher modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity. Internal bond strength rose as the amount of beech strands in the core layer increased. Panels with 75 % beech strands in the core layer showed the maximum internal bond strength at 720 kg/m 3 . It was also observed that increasing the amount of beech in the core layer from 40 to 75 % decreased thickness swelling at both densities. 1 Introduction Oriented strand boards (OSB) application has grown remarkably in recent years making it an important wood- based panel product. OSB plays a significant role in the building sector especially in North America. Although initial attempts to produce OSB were made back in the 1980s, this new product could compete with those on the plywood market due to a shortage of best quality logs in diameter, environmental concerns and of course the cost of plywood manufacturing. OSB has firmly established its market place in North America and since 2000 has pene- trated the European market for structural applications. OSB is widely used for various applications such as wall and roof sheathing, flooring, packaging and I-joints. It is also used in other structural applications such as furniture, reels pallets, boxes, trailer liners and recreational vehicle floor- ing (Hiziroglu 2006; Irle et al. 2013). OSB has captured more than half of the structural panel market in the last two decades (Barbu 2012). Reviewing the history of OSB clearly shows that it went through several developments before it successfully became part of a competitive stable market. A key factor influencing future market volume is the shortage of suitable raw materials. One example already mentioned in this context is plywood. The shortage of large diameter logs grown under optimum conditions used to produce high-quality plywood necessitated research into new market opportunities for a wood-based product with the same or even better properties than plywood. OSB has been found to be a very good solution around 30 years ago. A sustainable OSB market is very closely linked to the supply of raw materials. OSB is an engineered product consisting of thin strands of wood, 8–15 cm in length, 10–30 mm in width and 0.7–1 mm in thickness. In contrast to plywood, the supply of raw materials for the OSB market is quite vast, given, for example, the abundance of low quality logs and species with lower diameters. Nev- ertheless, it is important to select suitable species to pro- duce OSB so that good practical properties as well as feasible large volumes can be achieved. Today almost all A. Akrami Á A. Fruehwald (&) Department of Wood Science, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany e-mail: arno.fruehwald@uni-hamburg.de A. Akrami e-mail: ali.akrami@uni-hamburg.de M. C. Barbu Faculty of Wood Engineering, Transilvania University of Brasov, Brasov, Romania 123 Eur. J. Wood Prod. (2014) 72:393–398 DOI 10.1007/s00107-014-0793-9