Determination of heat transfer coefficients in wood‐based panel finishing

Abstract Wood‐based panels such as fiberboard, have become indispensable materials in everyday life ‐ from furniture to outdoor paneling. Despite the widespread use of Industry 4.0 methods across all industry sectors, their application in the wood‐based panel sector has been very limited so far. This study highlights the untapped potential of Industry 4.0 in the wood‐based panel sector by using digital methods to improve finishing of wood‐based panels with resin‐impregnated papers in a short‐cycle hot press by thermal modelling. For an accurate temperature estimation, precise heat transfer coefficients are of great importance. Currently, no data for these heat transfer coefficients are available in literature. We used experimental data in combination with a digital thermal model to determine the heat transfer coefficients of the system by using an optimization algorithm. In this work, we describe the experimental setup used, the extensive measurement campaigns conducted and how the digital model was validated and adjusted to allow the optimization algorithm to produce accurate estimations of the system′s heat transfer coefficients. In conclusion, our study underscores the potential of Industry 4.0 methodologies in the underrepresented field of wood‐based panel manufacturing by utilizing a combination of experimental and modern digital methods.