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CHARACTERISTICS OF LAMINATED FLOORING
MATERIALS
Wong Lip Gen
Bachelor of Engineering with Honours
(Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Systems)
2009
UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SARAWAK
BORANG PENYERAHAN TESIS
Judul: Characteristics of laminated flooring materials
SESI PENGAJIAN : 2008/2009
Saya WONG LIP GEN
mengaku membenarkan tesis * ini disimpan di Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademik, Universiti
Malaysia Sarawak dengan syarat-syarat kegunaan seperti berikut:
1. Tesis adalah hakmilik Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.
2. Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademik, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak dibenarkan membuat salinan
untuk tujuan pengajian sahaja.
3. Membuat pendigitan untuk membangunkan Pangkalan Data Kandungan Tempatan.
4. Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademik, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak dibenarkan membuat salinan
tesis ini sebagai bahan pertukaran antara institusi pengajian tinggi.
5. ** Sila tandakan (√) di mana kotak yang berkenaan
SULIT (Mengandungi maklumat yang berdarjah keselamatan atau
kepentingan Malaysia seperti yang termaktub di dalam AKTA
RAHSIA RASMI 1972).
TERHAD (Mengandungi maklumat TERHAD yang telah ditentukan oleh
organisasi/badan di mana penyelidikan dijalankan).
TIDAK TERHAD
Disahkan oleh
_________________________ ___________________________
(TANDATANGAN PENULIS) (TANDATANGAN PENYELIA)
Alamat tetap: No 191, Tmn Sejahtera, Pn. Marini binti Sawawi
Bakar Arang,
08000 Sungai Petani,
Kedah.
Tarikh: __________ Tarikh: __________
Catatan * Tesis ini dimaksudkan sebagai tesis bagi Ijazah Doktor Falsafah, Sarjana, dan Sarjana Muda.
** Jika tesis ini SULIT atau TERHAD, sila lampirkan surat daripada pihak berkuasa/organisasi
berkenaan dengan menyertakan sekali sebab dan tempoh tesis ini perlu dikelaskan sebagai SULIT atau
TERHAD.
√
R13a
APPROVAL SHEET
This Final Year Project report entitled “CHARACTERISTICS OF LAMINATED
FLOORING MATERIALS” was prepared by WONG LIP GEN as a partial
fulfillment of the requirement for the Bachelor of Engineering (Hons.) Mechanical
Engineering and Manufacturing System is here by read and approved by:
Madam Marini Sawawi Date
Project Supervisor
Faculty of Engineering
University Malaysia Sarawak
CHARACTERISTICS OF LAMINATED FLOORING
MATERIALS
WONG LIP GEN
This project is submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Engineering with Honours
(Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Systems)
Faculty of Engineering
UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SARAWAK
2009
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to address my appreciation to University Malaysia Sarawak for providing
the university facilities to conduct the research. I also would like to express my gratitude
towards the substantial assistance and guidance offered by my supervisor, Mdm. Marini
in accomplishing this final year project. Again, I wish to dedicate my appreciation
towards Mdm. Marini effort contributed to the writing of the report by commenting on
an earlier draft of each chapter. Nevertheless, I would like to take this opportunity to
thanks Mdm. Mahsuri who had inspired and corrected my point of views. Other than
that, I want to emphasis my deepest thank to the various people who have provided
technical support in order for me to proceed with the experiments. In alphabetical order
they are: Mdm. Hasmiza Kontet, Mr. Masri Zaini and Mr. Sabariman Bakar.
iii
ABSTRACT
In this study, the surface and moisture characteristics of commercially
manufactured laminated floorings and engineered hardwood floorings were evaluated.
The influences of outdoor exposure on surface quality of the samples ranging from 1
week to 3 weeks were determined using Stylus technique. In additional, the influences of
the indoor moisture conditions on the surface roughness, absorption rate and swelling
thickness of the samples soaked from 2 hours to 15 days were investigated. Two
roughness parameters, average roughness Ra and maximum roughness Rmax, calculated
from the surface profiles of the samples employing a profilometer were used for the
analyses. The samples have higher Ra and Rmax values when the Stylus tip traversed
across the grain compared to along the grain. Statistically, a significant difference
existed between laminated and engineered hardwood floorings. As a result, the
engineered hardwood showed higher values for the outdoor and indoor tests compared to
laminated flooring in terms of Ra, Rmax, moisture absorption rate and swelling thickness.
The experimental result also proven the influence of moisture have higher tendency
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damaging the flooring samples compared to the influence of environment. Throughout
the experiment, engineered hardwood samples degraded the most. This is because they
are prone to moisture and weathering damages. The experimental results also showed
laminated flooring samples have better surface quality, higher moisture resistance and
are more durable.
It was concluded that the laminated and engineered hardwood floorings is only
limited for interior installation except for bathrooms. Laminated flooring is suitable to be
used for the damp places such as kitchen, dining rooms and vicinity nearby the
bathrooms which have higher tendencies exposed to the moisture. For engineered
hardwood, the applications only limited to interior parts with the lowest moisture
exposure such as living room, bedrooms, and staircase.
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ABSTRAK
Dalam kajian ini, sifat kekasaran dan kelembapan lantai berlaminar dan lantai kayu
keras kejuruteraan telah disiasat. Faktor yang mempengaruhi kualiti permukaan sampel
semasa pendedahannya terhadap persekitaran selama satu sehingga tiga minggu telah
dikenal pasti dengan menggunakan teknik Stylus. Selain itu, pengaruh daripada
kelembapan keadaan dalaman keatas sifat kekasaran permukaan, kadar penyerapan, dan
penebalan setelah direndam dalam air selama 2 jam hingga 15 hari telah dikajikan.
Keduaan parameter iaitu purata kekasaran Ra dan kekasaran maximum Rmax, telah
dikirakan dari permukaan profil sampel dengan menggunakan profilometer bagi tujuan
menganalisis. Kesemua sampel telah mempamerkan nilai Ra dan Rmax yang lebih tinggi
sekiranya penghujung Stylus merentasi ira dengan melawan orientasinya dibangdingkan
mengikuti orientasi ira. Perbezaan statistik yang nyata wujud diantara lantai berlaminar
dengan kayu keras kejuruteraan. Sebagai akibatnya, sampel kayu keras kejuruteraan
mempamerkan nilai keseluruhan yang lebih tinggi yang merangkumi aspek Ra, Rmax,
kadar penyerapan mahupun dari segi penebalan saiz. Sepanjang tempoh eksperiment
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dijalankan, kualiti kayu keras kejuruteraan merosot dengan ketara. Penyerosotan kualiti
sampel tersebut berpunca daripada sifat semula jadinya yang lebih cenderung terhadap
kerosakkan yang diakibatkan oleh kelembapan dan penukaran cuaca yang tidak menentu.
Keputusan eksperimen juga menunjukkan bahawa lantai berlaminar mempunyai kualiti
permukaan yang lebih baik, sifat pertahanan kelembapan yang tinggi dan lebih tahan
lama.
Sebagai kesimpulan, lantai berlaminar dan lantai kayu keras kejuruteraan hanya
dihadkan untuk kegunaan dalaman sahaja kecuali bilik mandi. Lantai berlaminar sesuai
untuk kawasan yang berkecenderungan tinggi terdedah kepada kelembapan seperti dapur,
bilik makan, dan perkeliling bilik mandi. Lantai kayu keras kejuruteraan applikasinya
hanya terhad kepada kawasan yang kering sahaja seperti ruang tamu, bilik tidur dan
tangga.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Thesis Title
Dedication
Acknowledgements ii
Abstract iii
Abstrak v
Table of Contents vii
List of Tables ix
List of Figures x
Nomenclature xiv
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Study 1
1.2 Objectives 6
1.3 Problem Statement 7
Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction to Flooring Options 8
2.2 The Structure of the Laminated and Engineered
Hardwood Flooring
12
2.2.1 Layout of Laminated Flooring 12
2.2.2 Layout of Engineered Hardwood Flooring 14
2.3 Surface Texture Definitions 16
2.3.1 Surface Texture Parameters 17
2.3.2 Surface Roughness Measurement Test 17
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2.3.2.1 High Density Fiberboard (HDF) 19
2.3.2.2 Medium Density Fiberboard
(MDF)
23
2.3.2.3 Hardwood 34
2.4 Moisture Absorption 39
2.4.1 Sorption Behaviour 40
2.4.2 Effect of Moisture Absorption 47
2.4.2.1 Tensile Properties 50
2.4.2.2 Flexural Properties 51
2.4.2.3 Modulus Properties 52
Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction to Stylus Technique 53
3.2 Apparatus 54
3.3 Process and Procedure 58
3.4 Expected Problems 63
Chapter 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 Introduction 64
4.2 Surface Roughness Test 65
4.2.1 Environmental Exposure Test 65
4.2.2 Moisture test 74
4.3 Moisture Absorption Rate 85
4.3.1 Swelling Thickness 87
Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Conclusions 90
5.2 Recommendations 92
REFERENCES 99
APPENDIX A 112
APPENDIX B 126
ix
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE
2.1 Comparison between the commercially available
hard flooring materials
9
2.2 Comparison between the commercially available
resilience flooring materials
10
2.3 Janka hardness values of wood 15
2.4 Comparison of MDF and HDF physical properties 25
2.5 Property data for eight commercial MDF 25
2.6 Experimental design and properties of the samples 30
2.7 Characteristics of samples and experimental
schedule
32
2.8 Chemical constituents of the lignocellulosic fillers
(rice-husk flour, wood flour and rice-husk powder)
45
3.1 Table of cut-off values (recommended cut-off by
ISO 4288 – 1996)
54
4.1 The average of the roughness parameters based on
exposure duration to the environment
66
4.2 Average roughness parameters of the flooring
panels
74
4.3 Average density of the samples 85
4.4 Average moisture absorption rate based on the
soaking duration
85
4.5 Average swelling thickness for the flooring panels 88
x
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE PAGE
1.1 The lock and fold mechanism of the floating floors 3
1.2 Boards are placed on a cushioned underlayment and
ensure the boards were orientated in the right
position. After that lock and fold it
4
1.3 The floating floors were joined together without
glue or tapping
4
2.1 The structure of laminated flooring 12
2.2 The structure of engineered hardwood flooring 14
2.3 Surface roughness of the samples at: (A) dry
condition, (B) 2-h soaked, and (c) 24-h soaked
21
2.4 Average Ra values of the samples 22
2.5 Average Rz values of the samples 22
2.6 Average Rmax values of the samples 23
2.7 Average roughness value of parameters of samples
treated with 3% concentration of ZnB
27
2.8 Average roughness value of parameters of samples
treated with 5% concentration of ZnB
27
2.9 Surface roughness of Thai particleboard and MDF 29
2.10 Comparison between the MDF panels 31
2.11 Average roughness, Ra values for all samples 33
2.12 Average values of Ra, Rz and Rmax of keruing
samples
35
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2.13 Average values of Ra, Rz and Rmax of merbau
samples
36
2.14 Average values of Ra, Rz and Rmax of keranji
samples
36
2.15 Average values of Ra, Rz and Rmax of balau samples 37
2.16 Average values of Ra, Rz and Rmax of dark red
meranti samples
37
2.17 Water absorption curves at (a) room temperature
(23˚C) and (b) boiling temperature (100˚C) for
different specimens
44
2.18 Thickness swelling and moisture absorption of the
PP-RHF bio-composites and control panels
46
2.19 SEM micrograph failure showing (a) matrix
cracking, (b) fracture running along the interface
and (c) fiber–matrix debonding due to attack by
water molecules
48
2.20 SEM micrograph showing degradation of
composite (a) crack development (b) lost of resin
particles due to high accelerated ageing at 100 ˚C
48
2.21 SEM micrograph of composite fiber (a) showing
kinks or nodes (b) showing fiber misalignment and
entanglement
49
2.22 SEM micrograph of water immersed composite
showing effects of voids (a) voids, (b) voids acting
as reservoirs and (c) matrix cracking and
delamination after 37 days of immersion
50
2.23 Three-point bending test 51
3.1 The main measuring unit of Taylor Hobson
Surtronic 25
55
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3.2 Right Angle Pick-up, 5 µm (200 µin) Stylus tip
radius (code: 112/1505)
55
3.3 The Sketch depicting how a probe stylus travels
over a surface
56
3.4 Flow chart for surface roughness and moisture
absorption tests
58
3.5 The Stylus profilometer is set at dump mode by
connecting to a PC
60
3.6 The direction of traverse of the stylus tip is from
left to the right
61
4.1 Graph (a) and (b), the average roughness versus
exposure duration
67
4.2 Graph (a) and (b), the maximum roughness versus
exposure duration
71
4.3 Graph (a) and (b), the average roughness versus
soaking duration
75
4.4 (a) Water stains were spotted along the edges of LF
II panel (top) after oven for 8 hours and the LF II
panel (bottom) was fully dried after 24 hours. (b)
White ash panel after oven for 8 hours without
water stain along the edges.
78
4.5 Graph (a) and (b), the maximum roughness versus
soaking duration
80
4.6 Cupping and crowning observed on the flooring
materials
84
4.7 The graph of the moisture absorption rate versus
soaking
86
4.8 Graph of swelling thickness versus soaking 88
5.1 The backing layer and surface failure on the walnut
panel after soaked for 15 days
95
xiii
5.2 Surfaces of the laminated flooring panels, (a) and
backing layers, (b) after soaked for 15 days
96
5.3 The pick-up mounting 97
xiv
NOMENCLATURE
HDF - High Density Fiberboard
MDF - Medium Density Fiberboard
PVC - Polyvinyl Chloride
VOCs - Volatile Organic Compounds
Al2O3 - Aluminum Oxide
UV - Ultra-violet
Hj - Janka hardness (Pa)
S - Surface area of the ball (mm2)
F - Force (N)
R - Radius of the ball (mm)
h - Depth of impression (mm) or thickness of the
specimens (mm)
Ra - Arithmetic mean of the absolute departures of the
roughness profile from the mean line (µm)
Rmax/Rt - Maximum roughness aka. maximum peak to valley
profile height (µm)
CoF - Coefficient of friction
TP - Test Person
ANOVA - Analysis of variance
ZnB - Zinc Borates
PB - Particleboard
UF - Urea-formaldehyde
PF - Phenol-formaldehyde
SEM - Scanning Electron Microscope
ΔM (t) - Moisture uptakes (%)
xv
mo - Mass of the specimen before aging (kg)
mt - Mass of the specimen during aging (kg)
Wa - Air-dried weight of the material (N)
Wo - Oven-dried weight of the material (N)
mi - Initial weight of the moisture in the material (kg)
ms - Weight moisture in the materials when the material is
fully saturated
D - Mass diffusivity in the composite
t - Time (s)
j - Summation index
Mm - Maximum weight gain
d - Sample thickness in (mm)
t70 - Time taken to reach 70% saturation (s)
k - Initial slope of a plot of M (t) versus √ t
HFRUPE - Hemp fiber reinforced unsaturated polyester
DI - De-ionized
UPE - Unsaturated polyester
CSM - Chopped Strand Mat
ASTM - American Society of Testing and Materials
RHF - Rice-husk flour
WF - Wood flour
RHP - Rice-husk powder
MAPP - Maleated polypropylene
PP - Polypropylene
ρ - Density (kg/m3)
LF I - Laminated flooring panel with the thickness of 0.8 cm
LF II - Laminated flooring panel with the thickness of 1.2 cm
WAL - Walnut panel
ASH - White Ash
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter will briefly discuss the flooring options available in the market.
Among all the flooring options available, the main focus will be the laminated
flooring materials. Other than that, the engineered flooring materials will be used as
comparison. After that, the objectives and problem statement of this study were
drawn out.
1.1 Background Study
Before our early ancestors built shelters, they very likely softened their
primitive caves with sweet grasses, warm animal’s skins, and clean sand. All those
materials provided practical aids to comfort and cleanliness, as well as aesthetic and
tactile pleasure. Our ancestor wisdom has been evolving into today sophisticated
modern flooring technology. The flooring materials are categories into two types
“hard” and “soft”. The hard flooring materials include tile, stone, hardwood, and
laminated flooring. Meanwhile the soft flooring materials are such as cork, linoleum,
vinyl, carpet, and rubber. Normally hard flooring materials reflect more sound than
soft materials since the hard surface is an ideal sound reflector [1].
2
Laminated flooring has been widely used in Europe for over 20 years and
recently it is getting popular in North America [2]. In Malaysia, laminated flooring is
considering as a relatively new flooring option but it has gained a tremendous
response among Malaysian. The term “laminate” is defines as overlay (a flat surface)
with a layer of protective material or manufacture by placing layer on layer [3].
Generally the layout of the laminated flooring made up of four layers. The layers are
such as overlay, decorative paper, high density fiberboard (HDF), and backing [4, 5,
6, 7]. The engineered hardwood flooring is considered as the competitor to the
laminated flooring. The term “engineered” in the engineered hardwood flooring
referring to products that have several layers of wood laminated together to form one
board [8,9,10,11,12]. The layers of the engineered hardwood flooring are such as
finish layers, wear layer, rubberwood core, and bottom ply [9, 11]. The similarity
between laminated and engineered hardwood flooring are both also wood-based
materials which made up of several layers. With the innovation of nowadays flooring
technology both floors are available as floating floors. The floating floors are those
floors that are not mechanically fastened to the subfloor. They are suspended on top
of the floor while resting on a cushioned underlayment [13]. Therefore, floating
floors are easily to install or dismantle as compared to granite, marble, and tile which
are fixed to the ground. Originally only one method called “glue together” for the
installation of the floating floors where a bead of glue is squeezed into the grooves of
each plank or on top of the tongue. After the glue applied, the floating floors will be
tapped into place with hammer and tapping block [13]. The further improvement had
changed the installation method of the floating floors from glue together into lock
and fold method. This lock and fold method is more simple and no glue or tapping
3
required, Figure 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 illustrated how the floating floors were joined
together.
Figure 1.1: The lock and fold mechanism of the floating floors.
Figure 1.2: Boards are placed on a cushioned underlayment and ensure the boards
were orientated in the right position. After that lock and fold it.
5
There are many types of flooring materials available in today market but most
of the consumer facing difficulty to distinguish their qualities because the data
regarding the surface and moisture characteristics are insufficient. In general, the
degree of surface roughness is defines as function of both raw material
characteristics such as species, particle size, fiber distribution, and manufacturing
variables including press parameters, resin content, face layer densification, and
sanding process of the panels [45]. Whereas the moisture absorption is related with
the swelling thickness of the material after soaked in water. The swelling thickness is
directly proportional with the rate of moisture absorption whereby the percentage of
moisture absorption can be calculated through the weight gained. Other than that, the
microstructure of the flooring materials is directly affected by the moisture
absorption. The moisture effect will weaken the mechanical properties of the wood-
based flooring materials besides altering the microstructure of the materials.
Currently, the information for commercially produced laminated flooring is
very limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to establish a database for the
laminated flooring regarding their surface and moisture characteristics in order to
clarify the queries from the consumer. In addition, the surface and moisture
characteristics of engineered hardwood flooring will be included as a comparison
with the laminated flooring. There are series of experiments will be conducted to
determine the surface roughness and moisture absorption characteristics of the both
flooring materials. After that comparison between both materials will be included in
the database.