Processes for manufacturing engineered composite objects
Methods for forming composite objects, wherein the methods comprise providing a plurality of material particles, applying a liquid adhesive to at least a portion of the plurality of material particles, wherein the adhesive is comprised of droplets, at least about 80% of the droplets having an average droplet diameter of about 50 to about 200 microns, to form a material/adhesive mixture, and forming the material/adhesive mixture into a composite object.
1 . A method comprising:
providing a plurality of material particles;
applying a liquid adhesive to at least a portion of the plurality of material particles, wherein the adhesive is comprised of droplets, at least about 80% of the droplets having a droplet diameter of about 50 to about 200 microns, to form a material/adhesive mixture; and
forming the material/adhesive mixture into a composite object.
2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein one or more of the material particles is comprised of wood.
3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein a majority of the material particles are comprised of wood.
4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least about 90% of the droplets have a droplet diameter of about 50 to about 200 microns.
5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least about 80% of the droplets have a droplet diameter of about 50 to about 175 microns.
6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least about 90% of the droplets have a droplet diameter of about 50 to about 175 microns.
7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least about 80% of the droplets have a droplet diameter of about 60 to about 160 microns.
8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the adhesive comprises a resin.
9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the adhesive comprises a component selected from the group consisting of phenolic resins, amino resins, melamine resins, urea-formaldehydes, isocyanate resins and mixtures thereof.
10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the adhesive comprises an isocyanate resin.
11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the adhesive comprises a phenolic resin comprising at least one phenol moiety selected from the group consisting of phenol, cresol, xylenol, p-tert-butylphenol and p-resorcinol, and at least one aldehyde selected from the group consisting of formaldehyde and furfural.
12 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising adding a wax component prior to the forming of the material/adhesive mixture into a composite object.
13 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein the wax component is a liquid wax contained in one or more of the droplets.
14 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein the wax component comprises a lignosulfonate-stabilized wax emulsion.
15 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein forming the material/adhesive mixture into a composite object comprises applying heat, pressure or a combination thereof to the mixture.
16 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein forming the material/adhesive mixture into a composite object comprises subjecting the mixture to heat sufficient to cure the liquid adhesive.
17 . A method of manufacturing a wood composite object comprising:
providing a plurality of wood strands;
applying a liquid adhesive to at least a portion of the plurality of wood strands, wherein the adhesive is comprised of droplets, at least about 80% of the droplets having a droplet diameter of about 50 to 200 microns, to form a wood/adhesive mixture; and
forming the wood/adhesive mixture into a wood composite object.
18 . A method of manufacturing a composite comprising:
providing a plurality of material particles;
subjecting a liquid adhesive to an ultrasonic field to form a plurality of adhesive droplets;
combining the adhesive droplets and the material particles, to form a material/adhesive mixture; and
forming the material/adhesive mixture into a composite object.
19 . The method according to claim 18 , wherein subjecting the liquid adhesive to the ultrasonic field comprises feeding the liquid adhesive through an ultrasonic atomizer.
20 . The method according to claim 18 , wherein the ultrasonic atomizer has an operating frequency of about 20 to about 40 kHz.
21 . The method according to claim 18 , wherein one or more of the material particles is comprised of wood.
22 . The method according to claim 18 , wherein a majority of the material particles are comprised of wood.
23 . The method according to claim 18 , wherein the adhesive comprises a component selected from the group consisting of phenolic resins, amino resins, melamine resins, urea-fromaldehydes, isocyanate resins and mixtures thereof.
24 . The method according to claim 18 , further comprising adding a wax component prior to the forming of the material/adhesive mixture into a composite object.