Dimensional Stability of Cement Bonded Boards Produced from Thaumatococus danielli Stalk

Cement bonded boards 6 mm thick were produced using Thaumatococcus daniellii stalk. Thaumatococcus daniellii and cement were mixed together at two different mixing ratios and three board densities of 2.5:1 and 3:1 and 500, 600 and 700 g/cm3, respectively. After 24 h of cold-water immersion, the mean water absorption of the cement bonded board ranged from 22.9 to 48.5% for (cement/stalk) mixing ratio of 3:1 and 2.5:1 with board density 700 and 500 g/m3 respectively. Cement bonded board produced from the highest levels of cement: stalk ratio (3:1) and board density (700 g/cm3) were dimensional more stable as they had the lowest value for water absorption. The least dimensionally stable boards were produced from the mixing ratio cement: stalk ratio (2.5:1) and board density (500 g/m3). The mean values obtained for thickness swelling (TS) after 24 hours of cold-water immersion ranged from 0.19 to 0.74%. Result shows that the higher the increase in mixing ratio of cements to fibre (3:1) and board density (700 g/cm3) caused decrease in thickness swelling and water absorption. From this study, Thaumatococcus daniellii stalk proved to be suitable for the production of cement–bonded board.