Material Behavior of Structural Wood-Based Boards Affected by Rotting Process and Immersion in Water

The highest resistance to the action of wood-decay fungi was achieved for boards bonded with cementitious binder, for which the mass loss (ML) was passive for the tested fungi at both 3.8% for Coniophora puteana and 3.6% for Pleurotus ostreatus due to the carbonation process. By contrast, the lowest bioresistance was shown for particleboard. The achieved ML values were related to the changes of the internal structure, which were proven by the vertical density profile parameters and the surface area parameter. The effects of the ML and delamination process by immersion in water on the internal bond strength were determined individually to distinguish both synergistic parameters. The results showed the effect of long-term water immersion on the loss of internal bond strength, especially for wood particleboard.

Automated summary

Boards bonded with cementitious binder showed the highest resistance to wood-decay fungi, while particleboard had the lowest bioresistance. The mass loss was related to changes in the internal structure.