Properties of Plywood as a Building Material!
Every year the construction industry witnesses the demand for new building materials. Researchers and experts are relentlessly looking for new materials to overcome the problems faced due to traditional building materials. Among the building materials, plywood has become one of the most eye-catching materials that have brought a huge difference in the wood industry. Nowadays, due to the beneficial properties of plywood, it has become the most demanding building materials over traditional materials like natural wood, bricks, plastic, etc. Plywood is a wonderful combination of lightness, strength and flexibility. Therefore, the growth of the plywood market is increasing day by day across the world.
Plywood is an engineered wood which is made by stacking several layers of wood veneers (thin slice of natural wood).
In comparison to wood, the plywood is easily and readily available in all regions. Due to the dearth and cost factor of wood, plywood has made a way to the construction industry in the last couple of decades. The application of plywood in a building and construction industry along with interior design had made it a popular building material all over the world.
Since the benefits of plywood are immense, many companies over the world have started the production of soft, hard, tropical and decorative plywood. We use various types of plywood for different uses. Right from making furniture to constructing a house including structural framework, manufacturing of doors, windows, drywall/partition wall, décor items, etc. plywood is used. Many other composite sheets or panels are available in the market, but still, expert or woodworkers prefer plywood due to its inherent properties like strength and stability, ease of working, cost, etc.
Plywood derives its structural strength from the timber from which it is manufactured. This is in addition to the plywood properties obtained due to its laminated construction. Cross-graining (thin plies glued at the right angle with each other based on their pattern of grain) allows the plywood sheets to resist splitting and provides uniform strength with increased stability. Unlike natural wood, good quality plywood does not suffer from a change in size due to change in moisture content or humidity, i.e. it does not expand or contract. This is the biggest advantage of plywood.
Plywood has high tensile strength due to the cross lamination of panels which distributes the force over a large area and reduces tensile stress. Therefore, it can withstand overloading up to twice its designated load.
As stated by Bekhta, et al. in their research paper named “The effect of chemical treatment of wood veneer surfaces on their bond ability”; the plywood panels made by using treated veneers have higher shear strength than those made by using non-treated veneers.
Upon the treatment of veneer, plywood’s shear strength becomes nearly twice that of the solid wood when used in the wooden structure as bracing for resisting the lateral load.
