No abstract

In the center and southwest of Morocco, there is an endemic tree «Argania Spinosa» known as the ironwood. The miraculous product of this millenary tree is argan oil. Known for its therapeutic and cosmetic properties. Only 20% of the fruit of the argan tree is intended for the manufacture of argan oil while the shell, which represents 80%, remains an unexploited resource. This hull, which is sold by farmers at low prices, is used as fuel for baths and Moorish bakeries. In order to value the shells; first, we sort, grind and sieve them. Second, we bind the particles into adhesive. Three biomaterials are based on three particle sizes of shell grains. The designed particles are bound with an adhesive powder that is produced from a pre-catalyzed urea-formaldehyde resin. Moreover, the water used is a non-polluting solvent. The biomaterials and two samples of Red and Beech Wood were immersed in water for 15 days, with mass measurements that were done on a daily basis. It was concluded that the swelling coefficient of the large distribution of biomaterial is smaller than the small distribution of biomaterial. However, Red and Beech Wood have the highest coefficient.

The argan tree (Argania Spinosa) grows mainly in Morocco. This forest species, also called iron tree, covers about 830000 ha of Moroccan territory. Virtues of this argan oil are multiple: uses for cooking, medicines, or cosmetics. The objective of this work is the valorization of the argan tree, and especially in its shell, which remains poorly exploited and which is sold by the premises at low prices for use as a fuel in the Moorish baths and bakeries. Argan shell is the reinforcement of this bio-composite. For this, the shell is ground, sieved and separated into five different diameters d. Then, the preparations of the three ranges, each of which is composed of proportions (20%, 60%, 20%) of increasing diameter of particles. Each particle range is used as reinforcement in a matrix of urea formaldehyde and water as a non-polluting solvent. Using a traction machine, the Young module and the breaking stress of the three biomaterial ranges were determined. Our results show that the Young module of first range (R1) remains superior to that of other two ranges and also has a high breaking voltage. Then the bending measurements were made by the three-point machine MTS EM Flexion. Our results show that the R1 has a greater bending stress than the other two ranges.