Comparison of Birch and Beech Wood in Terms of Economic and Technological Properties for Plywood Manufacturing

The aim of this study was to investigate the use of birch wood, one of the most important wood species used in the plywood industry, especially in Europe, the Nordic countries, Poland, Belarus and Russia as an alternative to beech wood. For this purpose, comparison was made of their economic and technological properties. In five-ply plywood manufacturing, beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) and birch (Betula pendula) veneer sheets were used with melamine urea formaldehyde (MUF) and urea formaldehyde (UF) resins. Some mechanical properties such as shear strength, bending strength and modulus of elasticity of plywood panels were conducted according to EN 314-1 and EN 310, respectively. Mean mechanical strength obtained for birch plywood panels was quite above the limit values specified in the related standards. When taking into consideration the annual increment of beech and birch trees in 1 ha and the time they need to reach suitable diameters for the manufacturing of rotary cut veneers, it was calculated that birch trees provide 2.46 times more physical harvesting than beech trees.