Influence of the viscosity of UF resins on the radial and tangential penetration into poplar wood and on the shear strength of adhesive joints

This paper is the final part of a series reporting on the penetration (P) and bonding behaviour of urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins of different viscosities based on different degrees of condensation (DCs). The various resins were applied onto radial and tangential wood surfaces, and solid wood assemblies were prepared by hot pressing. P and P were observed by evaluation of photomicrographs of the bond lines. The mean and maximum depth of penetration was inversely proportional to the DC. The average depth of P was found to be slightly higher than P because of the abundance of pits on the radial walls. However, the maximum P was higher in radial direction, due to the elliptic shape of vessels in poplar as well as due to rays improving the resin flow. The lap shear strength (σ ) of the same bonded assemblies was determined. Despite the fact that the wood failure always was very high, the σ increased with the better penetration of the resins with low viscosity. The higher strength values measured has been interpreted as a fortification effect of the interphase by bulk resin penetration, as cell wall penetration cannot be expected due to the large size of such resin molecules.