LAUSR

This research optimizes the process of plywood production to determine its effectiveness in reducing energy and adhesive consumption for more efficient production with the required quality. The influence of selected parameters including veneer treatment (non-densified and densified), plywood structure, temperature, time and pressure of pressing, on the bonding quality and temperature evolution within the veneer stacks during hot pressing was investigated. Rotary-cut, non-densified and densified birch veneers and phenol formaldehyde (PF) adhesive were used to manufacture plywood samples. The effect of pressure and time of pressing on bonding quality of the plywood was determined. Bonding quality was evaluated by determining the shear strength of the plywood samples. The temperature evolution inside the veneer stacks was measured for birch veneers for different pressing temperatures and pressures for different numbers of veneer layers. The heating rate of the veneer stacks increased as the pressing temperature increased and decreased markedly with an increasing number of veneer layers. At a high pressing pressure, the heating rate of the densified veneer stacks was faster than that of non-densified veneers at the same pressure. The use of densified veneers for the production of plywood can lead to a shorter pressing time (17–50% reduction), lower glue consumption (33.3% reduction) and a lower pressing pressure (22.2% reduction) without negatively impacting the bonding strength of the plywood.