Determining the properties of particleboards and fibreboards when under stress is an important part of the characterization process since the test results provide relevant information for how the material will behave under real-world conditions. This type of material can be used either with insulation purposes or to manufacture furniture.
Testing to standard BS EN 319 involves testing the resistance to tension perpendicular to the surface of the test piece by submitting the latter to a uniformly distributed tensile force until rupture occurs. So the goal of this test is to obtain the tensile strength perpendicular to the plane of the board of each test piece and expressed in N/mm2.
The test pieces should be square with a side length of (50 ± 1) mm. We recommend cutting the piece with exact precision since the angles need to be 90° and the edges need to be straight and clean. Each test piece will be bonded to loading blocks using a suitable adhesive.
We recommend testing with either a 3300 or 5900 universal testing machine, along with a fixture for chipboard, fibreboard and hardboard (2820-061) for this application.
The standard specifies that these grips should be self-aligned on both sides of the test piece. The top grip already has a universal joint, so a tension coupling should be added to the bottom grip to be in full compliance with the BS EN 319.