Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is widely planted for its edible oil in
tropical countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia. The
production of palm oil is 39 Mt per year in 2007, which is the
most produced plant oil in the world [1]. The oil is mainly used
for food and related industries, and is also used as a raw
material for various products such as detergents and
cosmetics. Moreover, a number of research studies have been
carried out for biodiesels and bio-plastic materials from the oil
in recent years [2e6
along the oil palm trunk height [6]. This density variation affects the mechanical
properties of the oil palm wood and therefore the sandwich
panels containing the oil palm wood core. Therefore, a method is needed
to predict the bending stiffness and strength of oil palm wood core
sandwich panels at various oil palm wood core densities to achieve a
more practical use of this product.