EVALUATION OF MECHANICAL AND FLAME RETARDANT PROPERTIES OF MEDIUM DENSITY FIBERBOARD USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

ABSTRACT The present study presents the application of artificial neural network (ANN) to predict the modulus of rupture (MOR) and mass loss (ML) of the fire retarded fiberboard. Hence, the effect of adding the fire retardants including boric acid, borax and ammonium sulfate was evaluated on MOR and ML of fiberboard manufactured at different press temperatures. At first, the experimental design was created based on the Response Surface Methodology, and then the significance of each independent variable with respect to its effect on the responses was evaluated through ANOVA test. It was determi...