Study of wood adhesives on the bonding properties in solid and hollow glulam beams of Pinus radiata

The aim of this research was study of polyurethane (PUR), isocyanate polymer emulsions (EPI) and melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) adhesives, on the bonding properties of solid and hollow glulam beams of Pinus radiata. The thermomechanical analysis (DMA) of the adhesives was carried out to evaluate their stiffness and reactivity. Glulam beams were evaluated by a bending test. The quality of the bonding was evaluated by resistance to shear and delamination. The morphology of the bonding was studied by microscopy. The DMA study showed that the MUF adhesive had the highest level of stiffness and reactivity. The results of the bending test showed that the highest modulus of rupture results were obtained in solid and hollow laminated beams with MUF adhesive, achieving increases of 30% over the PUR adhesive. The lowest delamination results were obtained in solid glulam beams with MUF and EPI adhesives, while the highest results were 32% and 47% for the PUR adhesive. Finally, glulam beams manufactured with MUF adhesive presented the best performance and results.