Subject The objective of this work was to evaluate the performance of particleboards manufactured from Date Palm (Phoenix Dactyliferia) branches. Properties evaluated were bending strength (BS), internal bond (IB) and swelling in thickness (ST). Results showed that particleboards produced from Date Palm branches had the requirements of IB, BS and ST.Materials and methods First a hacker, also called a drum chipper was used to break the down wood, then the hacker chips were reduced to particles with a knifed-ring¯aker. After these processes, particles were dried to 3% moisture content and separated by the vibrating horizontal screen. For the blending: as adhesive urea formaldehyde, as hardener 33% of ammonium chloride solution, which was 1% of the oven dry weight of particles, were used in the production of three-layer particleboards. The solid content of urea formaldehyde was 55%. The boards were pressed using a single daylight press under 21 kg/cm 2 Â to dimensions of 56.5´56.5´2 cm and to speci®c gravity of 0.65 g/cm 3 . After pressing the particleboards were conditioned at a temperature of 20°C and 65% relative humidity and edge trimmed to 55´55 cm. Three panels were made for each group. Table 1 shows the experimental design of the study. Physical and mechanical property tests were conducted according to EN standards. All specimens were conditioned to equilibrum at a temperature of 20°C and 65% relative humidity. Thirty specimens were used for the tests.Results Values for average bending strength (BS), internal bond (IB) and swelling in thickness (ST) of particleboards produced from Date Palm branches are shown in Table 2.Conclusion The minimum IB requirements by EN standards are 0.24 N/mm 2 for general purpose boards, 0.35 N/mm 2 for interior ®tments (including furniture), load-bearing boards and 0.50 N/mm 2 for heavy duty load-bearing boards. As can be understood from Table 2, the 3-, 7-, 8-, 9-, 10-, 11-, and 12-type boards had higher IB than standard values. The minimum BS requirements are 11.5 N/mm 2 for general purpose boards, 13 N/mm 2 for interior ®tments (including furniture), 15 N/mm 2 for load-bearing and 18 N/mm 2 for heavy duty load-bearing boards by EN standards. The 7-, 8-, and 9-type boards had higher BS than standard values. The maximum ST (24 h) requirements are 15% for loadbearing boards and 14% for heavy duty load-bearing boards by EN standards. The 2-, 3-, 7-, 8-, 9-, 10-, 11-, and 12-type boards had lower ST than standard values.
