HIGH-SPEED DRYING OF SPACEBOARD II

AN APPARATUS AND TECHNIQUE FOR HIGH-SPEED DRYING OF A NEW STRUCTURAL MATERIAL, KNOWN AS SPACEBOARD, WILL BE DEVELOPED. SPACEBOARD IS A NOVEL STRUCTURAL BOARD COMPOSED OF PULPED WOOD FIBER. THE SPACEBOARD CONCEPT WAS INVENTED AT THE FOREST PRODUCTS LABORATORY SEVERAL YEARS AGO. THE BOARDS ARE PRODUCED BY PRESSING FIBER AGAINST COMPRESSIBLE RUBBER MOLDS TO FORM A STRUCTURE HAVING A SMOOTH FACE, BACKED BY AN INTEGRAL PATTERN OF HOLLOW CELLS. TWO SYMMETRICAL HALVES ARE BONDED TOGETHER CELL-TO-CELL TO FORM A COMPLETE BOARD. THE STRUCTURE HAS A VERY HIGH STRENGTH TO WEIGHT RATIO, CAN BE TAILORED TO A VARIETY OF SHAPES AND SIZES, AND CAN BE MANUFACTURED FROM SCRAP WOOD, UNDER-UTILIZED TREES, AND RECYCLED FIBERS. THE THICK FORM OF SPACEBOARD, KNOWN AS SPACEBOARD II, DRIES VERY SLOWLY USING CONVENTIONAL TECHNIQUES. THE SLOW DRYING OF SPACEBOARD II HAS BEEN AN IMPEDIMENT TO COMMERCIALIZATION. OUR PROPOSED DEVICE WILL REMOVE THIS IMPEDIMENT BY INCREASING THE DRYING RATE SUBSTANTIALLY. A SMALL8SCALE APPARATUS WILL BE FABRICATED AND TESTED DURING THE PHASE I PROGRAM AND A FULL-SCALE PROTOTYPE WILL BE BUILT DURING THE PHASE II PROGRAM.