Unveiling the Past and Present of OSB Boards

In China, when it comes to OSB boards, not many people can clearly explain what they are, and some may even have never heard of them. But if you go abroad, especially in Europe and the United States, the popularity of OSB boards is different: they are almost "pampered"!

Why is OSB facing such a different fate? What's driving this? "Mini Classroom" has officially launched, revealing the past and present of OSB.

What is OSB

OSB, or Oriented Structural Board, is also known in Chinese as "oriented strand board" or "oriented structural board." Products with the word "structure" in their names generally have good mechanical properties and are suitable for use in construction projects.

Why use OSB

Although OSB board is a particle board, it is very different from the ordinary particle board commonly seen on the market.

OSB board

Ordinary particle board

OSB board utilizes narrow, long, thin, flat wood chips, which are produced from small-diameter logs using specialized flakers. These chips have specific length, width, and thickness requirements: typically 25-100mm in length, 0.2-0.5mm in thickness, and 4-20mm in width. These thin, flat, and uniformly sized chips preserve the integrity of the wood fibers, resulting in high strength (the longitudinal static bending strength is approximately 1.5 times that of ordinary particleboard), high rigidity, and excellent stability.

In terms of adhesive usage, OSB uses at least 20% less adhesive than conventional particleboard due to the use of large-sized wood particles. As is well known, adhesives are the primary source of formaldehyde emissions from wood-based panels. The reduced use of adhesives has also, to a certain extent, ensured the environmental friendliness of the panels.

From the production process point of view, OSB board uses directional paving technology. By designing the directional angle, the board can have different proportions of strength in the longitudinal and transverse directions, which is more flexible, which is something that ordinary particle board cannot do.

Where can OSB be used?

In North America and Europe, the main field of OSB boards is the construction industry. They can be used as roofs, floor slabs, interior and exterior walls, etc. of wooden houses. They can also be used as building cement formwork instead of plywood.

In home decoration, especially in the production of partitions, retaining walls and cabinets, OSB boards are superior to blockboards with low shear strength and impact resistance and ordinary particleboards with poor nail holding power.

In addition, OSB is a globally recognized inspection-free packaging material and can be used in import and export packaging and transportation. Due to its excellent performance, it is also listed as a "Level 1 exposed" packaging material by the World Packaging Association.