1. Manufacture of chipboard panels: the case of OSB

The various types of wood-based chipboard consist of wood fibers, particles or chips bonded together by a heat-cured resin (see figure 5 and figure 1 ).

This resin can be :

• a urea-formaldehyde resin, the most frequent case, for ordinary particleboard;

• melamine-formaldehyde resin, which is less common because it is much more expensive than UF, or a mixed MUF (melamine-urea-formaldehyde) resin;

• a phenolic resin for excellent water and heat resistance.

We have studied these different resins in the