Functional Assessment of Particleboards Made of Apple and Plum Orchard Pruning

Three-layered composite materials consisting in wood-chips bonded by a resin (particleboard) were successfully produced from two by-products: plum and apple tree branches, waste biomass produced after orchard pruning; a third particleboard was made from an industrial softwood blend as a reference. After collecting the branches, the raw materials were characterized in matters of density, bark content and bulk density of particles. Various physical and mechanical properties were assessed in accordance with European Standards for wood-based panels, namely thickness swelling, water absorption, modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity, internal bonding strength, screw withdrawal resistance, as well as density profile and machining properties during milling and drilling. Modulus of rupture was 14.4 ± 1.2 N mm−2 for plum-based panels and 12.8 ± 2.3 N mm−2 for apple-based panels, while modulus of elasticity was 2576 ± 140 N mm−2 for plum-based panels and 2432 ± 345 N mm−2, which fulfills the mechanical requirements for panels of furniture production and interior equipment purposes which of this kind of materials is modulus of rupture of 11 N mm−2 and modulus of elasticity of 1600 N mm−2. The results showed in general, a good performance of the composite materials elaborated from waste biomass, thus offering a potential revalorization of a rather undervalued by-product.