Product Development from Veneer-Mill Residues: An Application of the Taguchi's Method

The raw material used for decorative (face) veneer manufacturing consists mainly of hardwood logs, the highest in quality harvested for industrial purposes. Besides the common sawmill residuals, the clipping operation in the process produces quite long, strand-type vestiges, and large end-clipping cutoffs. During the course of the research project presented in this article, structural composite materials were designed and formulated using these clipping residues as principal furnish materials. A robust statistical product development technique, the Taguchi's method, helped to identify the effect of component factors on the expected mechanical properties of these novel products.Results of three-factor/three-level analyses indicated that there is a linear positive correlation between target density and performance attributes (MOE and MOR). Increasing the content of end-clippings up to 25% resulted in decline of strength and stiffness. However, when the ratio was over 1 to 4, this trend proved to be negligible. Resin solid content within the selected range had no significant control over the examined panel properties