ABSTRACT
The medium Density Fibreboard is dry formed panel and is usually produced from lignocellulosic fibre bonded with resins. It is made from wood fibres. The purpose of this project is to investigate the suitability of cotton stalks for the production of such boards. The cotton stalks consist of the pith which is the soft central portion of the stem, the wood blast which is the main part of the stem, the cambium which is the lignocellulose layers and the bark, A laboratory samples were produced from cotton stalks. The process was chipping, sifting, washing, cooking, defibration, drying, and second defibration, resin blending, mat forming, pressing,trimming and conditioning. The produced samples were tested for evaluation of the physical and mechanical properties. These tests were bending strength, tensile strength parallel to surface, tensile strength perpendicular to the surface, compression, nail resistance, screw withdrawal, surface soundness, water absorption and thickness swell tests. The test results were compared with the data available from the present standards. All samples passed all the tests successfully except for water absorption and thickness swell tests because no wax was added during the process of manufacturing the samples. But in general, the results proved that the cotton stalk is good material for MDF making. It is recommended strongly that a MDF Plant, based on the cotton stalks as raw material, be established.
