APA

Non-Construction Applications

APA Products & Trademarks Non-Construction Applications

US Plywood and OSB in Non-Construction Applications

US plywood and OSB structural panels are frequently used in non-construction applications as some of the same performance requirements are also applicable. This ranges from upholstered furniture to shelving, site hoardings, protective cargo linings and packaging. 

Find out more about the benefit of structural panels  in non-construction applications, startubg with our dedicated performance panel website.  For info on how these panels add value in a range of industrial applications, see the ‘Performance Panels’ brochure (available in English and Spanish).

Factors to be considered when choosing wood-based panels would be:

• Appearance/surface quality
• Strength and stiffness to resist any applied loads
• The quality of adhesive to match the end-use environmental conditions
• Ease of workmanship
• Adequate service life
• Cost effectiveness

Know Your Product’s Industrial Category Index (ICI)

Before you can specify the right grade or type, you need to know a product’s Industrial Category Index (ICI). This is derived from the series of four numbers on a panel which refer to different face, back, crossband and inner lay characteristics.

APA’s Industrial Panel Selection Guide helps you work this out. It consists of four worksheets with a  series of simple ‘yes and no’ questions.  Once answered, you will be given the ICI for the most suitable product.

Where packaging needs to carry an engineering load, structural use panels are required


Type of applicationSuitable productImportant considerations
Boxes, packing cases (crates) Plywood
OSB
Strength & Stiffness
Fastener holding
Impact resistance
Moisture resistance
Agricultural containers1 e.g. potato boxesPlywoodStrength & stiffness
Fastener holding
Impact performance
Moisture resistance
Durability
Stacking height
Pallets
- Solid deck pallets
- Plywood slave pallets2
Plywood
OSB
Strength & stiffness
Racking resistance
Fastener holding
Impact resistance
Moisture resistance
Durability
Notes
1 The number of boxes which can be stacked on top of one another when fully loaded. This is often an issue for the design of the finished product rather than the individual components from which it is box is manufactured.
2 Optional edge protection may need to be considered

Type of applicationSuitable productImportant considerations
Perimeter hoardingPlywood
OSB
Appearance/surface quality
Strength & stiffness (wind loading)
Fastener holding
Moisture resistance
Ability to take a paint finish
Potential for re-use
Type of applicationSuitable productImportant considerations
Kitchen unitsPlywood
Appearance/surface quality
Strength & stiffness
Moisture resistance
Screw holding
Storage units/lockersPlywoodAppearance/surface quality
Strength & stiffness
Moisture resistance
Ability to take adhesives
Screw holding
Kitchen worktopsPlywoodSurface quality
Strength & stiffness
Impact resistance
Moisture resistance
Dimensional stability
Upholstered furniture framingPlywood
OSB
Strength & stiffness
Screw holding
Ability to take adhesives
Dimensional stability
Type of applicationSuitable productImportant considerations
Storage shelvingPlywood
• Sanded from strongest, Group 1 species eg
Grade B-D, Exposure1
Grade B-C Exterior
A-D Exposure 1
A-C Exterior
• Rated Sturd-I-Floor
• Unsanded Rated Sheathing
• Medium Density Overlay (MDO)
• High Density Overlay1(HDO)

OSB
Unsanded Rated Sheathing
Strength & stiffness
Panel thickness
Panel deflection to load
Support centres
Durability
Optional edge protection
Note:
1 Advisable for surfaces that need frequent cleaning
Type of applicationSuitable productImportant considerations
Dry linings1Plywood
Overlaid plywood2
Strength
Durability
Smoothness of face
Wet liningsPlywood (preservative treated)
[Recommend APA Series V-6113 exterior panels]
Strength & stiffness
Durability
Smoothness/surface quality
Notes:
1 Linings are ordinarily subjected to extremely rough usage so many factors govern material selection
2 Plywood overlaid with metal or fibreglass-reinforced plastic (FRP)
3 All veneer plywood manufactured to Product Standard PS1 suitable for preservative treatment

APA’s Industrial Panel Selection Guide

The Industrial Panel Selection Guide (download here) helps you complete your specification. These notes tell you how to work with it.

The guide is a series of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions in four worksheets to help you decide which plywood or OSB product you will need.  For example, it asks you if your application requires smoothness or overlays; it asks about uestion of  size and number of knots and knot holes and whether the panel must be suitable for painting and staining and so forth.

For every ‘yes’ answer you circle the number given in the right hand column. Then, when you have answere all the qautionYou take the highest numbers for each worksheet to determine your  APA Industrial Category Index.

For example, if the highest circled numbers are 7 on the first worksheet, 1 on the second, 3 on the third and 1 on the fourth, the Industrial Category Index for the required panel is 7-1-3-1.  You then identify your panel by matching your numbers in the Panel Translator Chart or Characteristics Locator Charts.

Guide to worksheets

Worksheet 1 : Panel face characteristics

Worksheet 2: Panel back characteristics

Worksheet 3: First crossband characteristics

Worksheet 4:  Inner layer characteristics

Panel Translator Chart

Characteristics Locator Charts

Substitute Panels

If a panel with the Industrial Category Index for your application is not available as one of the common APA panel construction grades, it is possible to select a substitute panel. Because the Industrial Category Index identifies minimum acceptable characteristics, any panel with Characteristic Numbers in each category equal to or greater than the original number may be substituted.

For instance, if an application calls for a panel with an Industrial Category Index of 10-10-3-3, a panel with the number 10-10-9-9 would also work.  However, a panel number of 10-9-9-9 would be unacceptable because the second number is lower than the second number in the original Industrial Category Index.

Additional publications available from www.apawood-org:

Packaging & industrial shelving:  Industrial Use Guide – Material Handling (Form No. M200A)

Pallets: Engineered Wood Pallets – A Solid Value (Form No. T200)  and  Industrial Use Guide – Plywood pallets in Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (Form No. S225)

Furniture: Upholstered Furniture Frames (Form B625)

Truck/van linings for cargo bays: Transport Equipment (Form No. G210).

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