Prediction of the optimum veneer drying temperature for good bonding in plywood manufacturing by means of artificial neural network

Veneer drying is one of the most important stages in the manufacturing of veneer-based composites such as plywood and laminated veneer lumber. Due to the high drying costs, increased temperatures are being used commonly in plywood industry to reduce the overall drying time and increase capacity. However, high drying temperatures can alter some physical, mechanical and chemical characteristics of wood and cause some drying-related defects. In this study, it was attempted to predict the optimum drying temperature for beech and spruce veneers via artificial neural network modeling for optimum bonding. Therefore, bonding shear strength values of plywood panels manufactured from beech and spruce veneers dried at temperatures of 20, 110, 150 and 180 °C were obtained experimentally. Then, the intermediate bond strength values based on veneer drying temperatures were predicted by artificial neural network modeling, and the values not measured experimentally were evaluated. The optimum drying temperature values that yielded the highest bonding strength were obtained as 169 °C for urea formaldehyde and 125 °C for phenol formaldehyde adhesive in beech plywood panels, while 162 °C for urea formaldehyde and 151 °C for phenol formaldehyde in spruce plywood panels.