Evaluation of various engineered wood flooring constructions

The objective of this study was to compare five engineered wood flooring constructions made with North American wood components. The methodology was developed to determine the performance of engineered wood flooring. In accordance with the design parameters selected in this study, the best construct...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forest products journal 2003-05, Vol.53 (5), p.30-37
Main Authors: BLANCHET, Pierre, BEAUREGARD, Robert, CLOUTIER, Alain, GENDRON, Guy, LEFEBVRE, Marcel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Comparative studies
Evaluation
Exact sciences and technology
Floor coverings
Flooring
Floors, Wooden
Forest products industry
Manufacturing
Market shares
Pallets
Polymer industry, paints, wood
Product design
Properties and testing
Variance analysis
Wood
Wood composites
Wood finishing
Wood products
Wood. Paper. Non wovens
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Summary:The objective of this study was to compare five engineered wood flooring constructions made with North American wood components. The methodology was developed to determine the performance of engineered wood flooring. In accordance with the design parameters selected in this study, the best construction was a 4-mm-thick sugar maple surface layer, an 8-mm-thick white birch core layer, and a 2-mm-thick yellow birch veneer as backing layer. The cupping distortion in black spruce core construction without backing was 20% higher than the white birch construction. Constructions made with a white birch core showed a 10% to 40% lower cupping distortion than those made with a black spruce core. The varnish layer plays an important role in the performance of engineered wood flooring by reducing the cupping distortion by 50 percent since it limits moisture adsorption through the surface layer. There was no significant difference in the distortion measured for two subsequent conditioning cycles, indicating that the phenomenon occurs in the elastic domain.
ISSN:0015-7473
2376-9637