3.1. Physical Properties
The particleboard’s density and MC is illustrated in
Figure 3. The density of particleboard varies between 0.63 and 0.68 g/cm
3. The highest particleboard density is found at a 50/50 ratio (0.68 g/cm
3), and the lowest is found at a 100/0 ratio (0.63 g/cm
3). The data analysis revealed that the addition of wood shaving significantly affected particleboard density (
Table 3). This result indicates that increasing the proportion of wood shavings statically increases the board’s density (
Table 4). These phenomena are due to the difference in the raw materials’ density, with the elephant dung material having a low density. According to Widyorini et al. [
17], elephant dung has a bulk density of 0.11 ± 0.002 g/cm
3. The addition of wood shavings of Mahoni with a density of 0.60 ± 0.08 g/cm
3 increases the density of elephant dung particleboard. Gilbero et al. [
26] reported that Mahoni density is around 0.58–0.63.
The density particleboard in this study does not meet the target of 0.8 g/cm
3. These phenomena are due to the board’s thickness being increased during conditioning (spring back). The spring back value for this study is between 3.43 and 12.63% (
Table 5). The highest spring back value for particleboard is found at a 100/0 ratio (12.63%), and the lowest spring back value is found at a 50/50 ratio (3.43%). The spring back phenomenon is found on the particleboard during conditioning. Adjusting the moisture content increases the particleboard’s thickness and eventually decreases its density [
27,
28,
29,
30,
31]. The density of particleboard in this study is greater than particleboard mixed with rattan shavings and sawdust (0.57–0.60 g/cm
3) [
32] and particleboard mixed with coconut powder and sengon wood (0.54–0.58 g/cm
3) [
33]. According to JIS A 5908-2003, all particleboard densities obtained were within the standard range (0.4–0.9 g/cm
3).
The MC of particleboard ranges between 8.36 and 9.78%. The highest MC of particleboard is found at a ratio of 100/0 (9.78%). Meanwhile, the lowest MC of particleboard is found at a ratio of 60/40 (8.36%). The data analysis revealed that the addition of wood shaving to the MC was statistically significant (
Table 3). According to JIS A 5908-2003 standard, the MC of the particleboard obtained met the standard (5–13%).
The WA and TS of particleboard as shown in
Figure 4. WA in this study ranged between 58.32% and 67.74%. The highest value was 67.74% at a ratio of 100/0, and the lowest value was 58.32% at a ratio of 50/50. The data analysis indicates that the effect of the addition of wood shaving on the WA of the board is not statistically significant (
Table 3). The study discovered that increasing the proportion of wood shavings resulted in decreased WA. Due to the low density of elephant dung particles, they have a higher water absorption capacity of 372.21 ± 18.65% than wood shavings of 223.05 ± 16.19% (
Table 1). In addition, the particle sizes of the raw material wood shavings have larger dimensions than elephant dung fiber. Smaller particle size results in a larger surface area/contact area, which affects the particleboard’s physical and mechanical properties. According to Pan et al. [
34], fine particles provided a bigger contact area of the particleboard than coarse particles.
The TS has a value between 20.69% and 36.5%, with the highest value being 36.5% in the 100/0 ratio and the lowest value being 20.69% in the 50/50 ratio. The data analysis demonstrates that the addition of wood shaving significantly affected the TS of particleboard (
Table 3). It is demonstrated in this study that increasing the proportion of wood shavings results in a statistically significant decrease in the TS value obtained (
Table 4). These phenomena are due to the addition of wood shavings with higher specific gravity than elephant dung fiber. According to the JIS A 5908-2003 standard, the thickness swelling value of all particleboard in this study does not meet the standard, which specifies a maximum thickness swelling of 12%.
3.2. Mechanical Properties
The MOE and MOR, as illustrated in
Figure 5. The MOE in this study ranges between 1952 MPa and 2573 MPa. The highest MOE of particleboard is 2573 MPa at a 50/50 ratio, while the lowest is 1952 MPa at a 100/0 ratio. The higher the wood shaving ratio, the greater the MOE produced in this study (
Table 6 and
Table 7). These phenomena are due to wood shavings particles of larger dimensions than elephant dung fibers (
Table 1). Lias et al. [
35] reported that using coarse particles would increase the MOE rather than a fine particle. According to JIS A 5908-2003, except for the 100/0 ratio, all particleboard fabricated MOE values met the standard.
The particleboard’s MOR is 18.6–27.4 MPa. The highest MOR values is found on the 50/50 ratio, while the lowest MOR values is found on the 90/10 ratio. The data analysis revealed that the addition of wood shaving has significantly affected the MOR of particleboard (
Table 6). The increase in MOR value at a 50/50 ratio is due to coarse wood shavings and large dimensions at a similar MOE. This study was similar to Guller et al. [
23], which discovered mechanical properties in the highest MOR at a 50/50 ratio of sunflower stalks to Calabrian pine. According to JIS A 5908-2003 standard, the MOR value of all particleboard produced met the standard, which requires a minimum MOR value of 8 MPa.
As illustrated in
Figure 6, particleboard’s IB varies between 0.16–0.34 MPa, with the highest value occurring at the 50/50 ratio and the lowest occurring at the 100/0 ratio. It was discovered in this study that there was a tendency to increase the ratio of wood shavings, resulting in a higher internal bond value (
Table 7). These phenomena were due to the board density 50/50 ratio being larger than the 100/0 ratio. Umemura et al. [
36] reported that IB increase with the increasing density of particleboard. According to the JIS A 5908-2003 standard, all particle boards have an IB value greater than 0.15 MPa.