Mechanical behaviour of phenolic coated Finnish birch plywood with simulated service damage.

This paper investigates the mechanical behaviour of Finnish birch (Betula pendulaandBetula pubescens) plywood commonly used in road freight trailer decking. A series of tests have been performed to characterize the mechanical performance of the material and the effect of in-service damage that is likely to occur when the material is used in this application. Moisture damage, indentation damage, and abrasive wear are all recreated in the laboratory and the severity of each is assessed. In particular, the effect of indentation damage on flexural properties is compared against the effect of moisture damage. It is found that while indentation damage can often appear more severe during a visual inspection, it generally has a lesser effect on flexural stiffness and strength compared to moisture damage. While the effect of moisture damage on flexural properties is well documented, the effect of indentation damage is previously less well understood. Both indentation damage and moisture damage significantly increase variance in flexural stiffness, but not flexural strength. This work provides a practical insight into whether damaged road freight trailer decking can still withstand in-service loadings. It also provides a benchmark for the performance of novel deck systems such as composite sandwich panels and glass-fibre pultrusions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]