We attempted to use wood shavings in their raw curled flake form as a base material in a mat to be used primarily as a heat-insulating/acoustic material in houses. The molding succeeded in producing a low-density (0.03 to 0.08 g/cm3) wooden molding mat with bicomponent fibers as the binding component. After evaluating self-support and form retention, the inclusion of kenaf bast fiber was found to improve formability. Self-support and form retention were found with a combination including 5 percent bicomponent fiber. For examining the molding process, a relatively simple method of using a dust collector with an air blower that is used in carpentry allowed spreading of various fibrous materials and homogeneous mixing of the ingredients. Thermoforming could be achieved over a short time by using a heat-through dryer.
Contributor Notes
The authors are, respectively, Research Scientist, Research Scientist, and Research Scientist, Aichi Industrial Technology Inst., Kariya-city, Aichi, Japan (satoshi_2_fukuta@pref.aichi.lg.jp, miyoko_shibata@pref.aichi.lg.jp, yukinobu_oota@pref.aichi.lg.jp); Director, Aichi Prefectural Government, Nagoya-city, Aichi, Japan (yasuo_takasu@pref.aichi.lg.jp); and Graduate Student, Associate Professor, and Professor, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sci., Nagoya Univ., Nagoya-city, Aichi, Japan (mori.tatsunori@d.mbox.nagoya-u.ac.jp, marikoy@agr.nagoya-u.ac.jp, ysasaki@nagoya-u.jp). This paper was received for publication in September 2010. Article no. 10-00043.