Open Access

ARTICLE

Design and Evaluation of Thin-Walled Hollow-Core WoodStrand Sandwich Panels

Christopher Voth¹, Nathan White², Vikram Yadama^3,*, William Cofer³

1 Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, 1400 Farragut Ave, Bremerton, Washington, USA 98314
2 Stanley Consultants, 8000 S Chester St Suite 500, Centennial, Colorado, USA 80112
3 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA

* Corresponding Author:

Journal of Renewable Materials 2015, 3(3), 234-243. https://doi.org/10.7569/JRM.2015.634109

Received 22 January 2015; Accepted 10 June 2015;

Abstract

Part of a long-term goal of developing a sustainable composite panel that meets both structural and energy performance requirements in building construction applications, this study discusses the development of a thinwalled wood-strand 3D core element that shows promise for a variety of panelized construction applications, such as in a building envelope. Sandwich panels take advantage of the lightweight corrugated core sandwiched between stress skin faces acting similar to an I-beam. Specific bending stiffness of sandwich panels fabricated with ponderosa pine strands was significantly higher than average values of commercially produced composite panels of equivalent thickness (141–156% and 120–133% stiffer than oriented strand board (OSB) and 5-ply plywood respectively). Compared to OSB of equivalent thickness, sandwich panels require 40% less wood strands by weight, which also means lower usage of resin. This basic concept creates tremendous flexibility in designing panelized wall, floor and roof elements for building envelope applications.

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Keywords

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