Light-weight wood-magnesium oxychloride cement composite building products made by extrusion

Magnesium oxychloride (MOC) cement is a type of non-hydraulic cement with yellowish color in nature and low alkalinity exhibiting many other properties superior to Portland Cement (PC). In this study, lightweight wood-MOC cement composite building products, with sawdust and/or perlite as aggregate, were made through extrusion. Physical, nailing and mechanical properties of these composites were investigated. It was found that the specific dry densities of the wood-MOC cement composites were close to 1.0 and they were nailable like hard natural wood. Their flexural strength decreased as temperature increased. By replacing 50% sawdust in weight by perlite, the composite exhibited less die swell and better performance in resisting high temperature. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.