Summary
Structural grade chipboard used as floor decking can be exposed to a combination of creep loading, and fatigue loading at a wide range of frequencies. Creep loads are produced by static masses such as machinery. Fatigue loads arise from intermittent loads such as fork lift trucks in motion, people in motion, or vibrating machinery.
Four-point bend tests in fatigue and creep have been performed simultaneously on matched sets of four structural grade chipboard samples. The aim was to examine the effect of frequency on the fatigue performance of chipboard by following the rate of microstrain development in each case at the same peak stress. The ratio of the minimum to the maximum fatigue stress (the R ratio) was set at R = 0.1. Fatigue tests were performed at three different frequencies classified as low, medium and high, determined by the rate of application of stress.
The performance of chipboard in flooring applications is shown to be highly dependent on the loading frequency. Increasing the frequency increased the number of cycles to failure as did reducing the stress level. Using hysteresis loop capture to monitor damage accumulation during testing indicates that there is a fatigue limit for chipboard loaded at constant amplitude at some point just below 20% of its static bending strength.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bonfield, P. W.; Dinwoodie, J. M.; Ansell, M. P.; Hacker, C. L. (1993): Damage quantification of wood and wood-based products via stress-strain hysteresis loop capture. Proceedings of COST 508 Workshop on Failure and Plasticity in Wood
Bonfield, P. W.; Hacker, C. L.; Ansell, M. P.; Dinwoodie, J. M. (1994): Fatigue and creep of chipboard. Part 1. Fatigue at R = 0.01. Wood Sci. Technol. 28: 423–436
BRE Digest 373 (1992): Wood Chipboard. The Building Research Establishment, Garston, Watford
BS 5669 (1989): British Standard for particleboard. British Standards Institution
Dinwoodie, J. M.; Higgins, J.-A.; Paxton, B. H.; Robson, D. J. (1990): Creep research on particleboard. 15 Year's Work at the UK Building Research Establishment. Holzals Roh-Werkstoff. 48: 5–10
Dinwoodie, J. M.; Paxton, B. H.; Bonfield, P. W.; Mundy, J. S. (1995): Fatigue and creep in chipboard. Part 2. The influence of slow cyclic fatigue on the creep behaviour of chipboard at a range of stress levels and moisture contents. Wood Sci. Technol. 29: 64–76
Thompson, R. J. H.; Bonfield, P. W.; Dinwoodie, J. M.; Ansell, M. P. (1994): Creep and fatigue of chipboard in flexure. Proceedings of The Pacific Timber Engineering Conference. Vol. 2: 521–530. July 11–16, Gold Coast, Australia
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by the Building Research Establishment who also supported the postgraduate case award in conjunction with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Thompson, R.J.H., Bonfield, P.W., Dinwoodie, J.M. et al. Fatigue and creep in chipboard. Wood Sci.Technol. 30, 293–305 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00223550
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00223550