DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE AND COST- COMPETITIVE EXTRUDED WOOD FIBER REINFORCED CEMENT PRODUCTS

Wood fiber reinforced cement complements the high tensile strength, toughness, impact resistance and workability of wood with the fire resistance, durability and dimensional stability of cement-based materials, offering a unique balance of performance characteristics and aesthetic qualities at competitive cost. Current wood fiber cement processing systems, however, yield products of relatively high permeability and low resistance to freeze-thaw and natural carbonation, with strict geometric and aesthetic limitations. This project investigates extrusion as an alternative means of wood fiber cement mass production. Our Phase I research has demonstrated that refined wood fiber cement mixtures can provide rheological attributes suiting extrusion, yielding geometrically diverse extruded products of distinctly high durability with a desirable balance of technical and aesthetic qualities. The proposed Phase II research will optimize the extrusion system of wood fiber cement on a broad raw material basis, and will adapt the system to satisfy market needs in diverse fields of application. The proposed Phase II research will: (1) optimize the process variables of extrusion in light of the rheological attributes of wood fiber cement; (2) develop cementitious matrix mix compositions optimally suiting extrusion with diverse wood fiber types; and (3) identify and explore markets of greatest commercial promise for extruded wood fiber cement products.