Phenolic plywood | Film-faced Concrete Shuttering plywood

Phenolic plywood | Film-faced Concrete Shuttering plywood



In this article, we will look at what phenolic plywood is, how it is made, and its application in the construction industry.To get more news about Medium density fibreboard, you can visit boosterplywood.com official website.

Phenolic Plywood Also known as Phenolic Film-Faced Concrete Shuttering Plywood, it is widely used in the construction industry to create wood moulds used for casting concrete when constructing concrete slabs and columns of buildings. One of the main advantages of using film-faced plywood for concrete moulding is that these boards are completely water-resistant, the concrete does not stick to their surface, and these plywood sheets can be reused after the concrete casting process is complete.
Generally, phenolic plywood is waterproof type plywood with a phenolic film on its surface. In the final stage of the manufacturing process, a phenolic film is applied to the surface of the plywood. This is why it is also called Film Faced Plywood.

Manufacture Process of Phenolic Plywood

Step 1: Good quality timber logs acquired from hardwoods are used as raw material.

Step 2: Slices of wood veneers are obtained from these logs. For doing this, the timber logs are mounted on a machine, that rotates the logs about their longitudinal axis, while a cutter peels off layers from the log. These layers are the veneers.

Step 3: The veneers are graded according to quality, and stacked upon each other.

Step 4: Synthetic phenolic resin, made from phenol-formaldehyde, is evenly spread over the veneers to glue them together.

Step 5: The multiple layers of veneers (plies), arranged in alternating grain patterns, are then hot-pressed to form a strong and permanent bond.
Step 6: Preservative treatment is carried out on the plywood by adding appropriate chemicals.

Step 7: At the final stage, a very thin film of phenolic resin is applied to the surface of the plywood. This film is made by soaking and saturating a paper in phenolic resin. Once the resin has hardened, the paper becomes hard and the film is ready. The film is then hot pressed and melted onto the surface of the plywood, to achieve a smooth, hard finish.
Like marine-grade plywood, quality tests for phenolic film faced shuttering plywood include water-resistant testing, during which sample pieces of plywood are immersed in boiling water for 72 hours, then removed and cooled in Coldwater. Still, wet pieces are tested for strength and make sure the outer phenolic layer does not deteriorate in any way.