Natural wood has certain advantages such as good processability and high specific strength and thus has been used for millennium as a structural material. But the mechanical performance and water resistance, particularly for fast-growing species, are unsatisfactory for high-end applications. In this study, the “new-type” scrimber technology was introduced to radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don) scrimbers. The structure, mechanical properties, and dimensional stability of the scrimber panels were investigated. Results showed that OWFMs as basic units of scrimber had been very even in size and superior permeability. The scrimbers exhibited a three-dimensional porous structure, and the porosity had a decrease with increasing density. Both OWFMs and densification contributed to the high performance in terms of mechanical properties and water resistance. The flexural, compressive, and short-beam shearing strength were significantly enhanced with increasing density. As the density was 0.80 g cm⁻³, the flexural strength (MOR) was approximately 120 MPa, much larger than many selected wood-based panels. Moreover, the water resistance and dimensional stability also were closely related to the density. At the density of 1.39 g cm⁻³, the water absorption rate and thinness swelling rate of the panels in boiled water were only 19% and 5.7%, respectively.

The Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology (JKWST) launched in 1973 as an official publication of the Korean Society of Wood Science and Technology has been served as a core of knowledges on wood science and technology.

In this study, poplar wood and a phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin were used to produce a large-scale scrimber product by a combined cold pressing and heat curing method. The water resistance, mechanical properties, and formaldehyde emission of the scrimber boards prepared at different core temperatures (100°C, 110°C, 115°C, and 120°C) were investigated. The results showed that the peak core temperature had a significant effect on the scrimber performance. The thickness swelling rate and width swelling rate of the scrimber boards prepared at a core temperature of 100 °C were significantly higher than other samples. The formaldehyde emission from the surface layer of the scrimber boards prepared at a high core temperature (115°C and 120°C) was much lower than that at a core temperature of 100°C and 110°C. These results can be explained by the correlation between curing degree and temperature of the PF resin in the scrimber. With increasing core temperature, the modulus of rupture, compression strength, and horizontal shear strength of the scrimber boards first increased and then decreased, suggesting that core temperature during the heat curing process also played an important role in determining mechanical properties. The scrimber boards with the best mechanical properties were prepared at a core temperature of 115°C. The results of the study demonstrated that the optimal core temperature necessary to produce a low-cost and high-performance scrimber was 115°C.