HARDNESS CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF HIGH DENSITY FIBREBOARD (HDF) IN ECONOMY OF NIGERIA

Technical information on hardness test analysis on high-density fibreboard (HDF) in Nigerian economy needed by stakeholders to prevent loss of revenue that may arise due to choice of indecorous high-density fibreboard (HDF) for plentiful demands as a result of absence of such data was scrutinized. Identified and subjected to test to establish their hardness were the top three most frequently sought after high-density fibreboard (HDF) in Nigerian market. The samples were tested four times on the machine and the mean determined after they were prepared as required by the Leeds Hardness Tester. From the generated data, plots on the hardness of the samples were ensued by computer program. Results show that Dabar attained aggregate average hardness of 526.50 Leeds Hardness Test (HLD), Joubert attained aggregate average hardness of 548.50 HLD while Sinoply attained aggregate average hardness of 547.50 HLD. Quantitatively, that of Joubert is 0.18% and 4.18% harder than Sinoply and Dabar respectively. Sinoply is also 4.00% harder than Dabar. It is worthy to note that the difference in hardness between Joubert and Sinoply which is 1.00 HLD is small compared to the difference in hardness between Joubert and Dabar which is as much as 22.00 HLD. Preference of high-density fibreboard (HDF) with respect to their hardness potentials from Nigeria market depending on application should rely on this novel technical data. This unique knowledge should be valued by architects, building contractors, engineers, individuals, construction companies as well as furniture makers even as biomedical engineers should leverage on it for the development of their designs. Forthcoming research works in wood composites should focus on warping challenges in wood composites