The gypsum board industry is highly competitive with excess capacity, similar products and a very price sensitive market. As a result, quality improvement and cost control are of paramount importance. The manufacturing process is constantly tuned to give a satisfactory product at the lowest possible cost. In recent years this has meant lower board weights, lower liner weights and efforts to reduce energy costs. This has in turn resulted in a move to optimize the gypsum board core structure to get the most out of the raw materials used to make the product. Today’s gypsum board often has a finely tuned core structure with densified layers / coatings at the liner / core interface and foam structures that are carefully managed. In spite of this effort, it has proven difficult to optimize this process because there has been little quantitative data generated on the actual core structure produced, and even less information on how this core structure relates to board performance and the process parameters to optimize structure for performance.

As gypsum board weights continue to decrease in North America, a renewed focus on the microscopic elements of gypsum board production could save each plant upwards of US $1million/year. 
It is well known in the gypsum industry that the ASTM C473 nail pull resistance test specification represents a significant barrier to further technology advancements in manufacturing cost reduction.

Interior grade gypsum wallboard products are manufactured by combining an aqueous pregenerated chemical foam with a plaster/water flowable slurry to form a porous lightweight core panel that contains many cellular air voids. Recent technology advances in foaming agent chemistry and manufacturing equipment have altered the traditional gypsum core structure to preferentially contain relatively large air voids as opposed to relatively small air voids. The purpose of this project is to produce lab board samples made from various industry representative chemical foaming agents, produced at various foam densities in order to generate an array of different structures to be evaluated. These samples were investigated for 2 major performance parameters; (a) Fire resistance as measured by shrinkage resistance and surface cracking when exposed to high temperatures and (b) Fastening performance as measured by nail pull testing. These results are intended to highlight any potential correlation between core structure and end-use performance. These types of core structures may then ideally be targeted by gypsum board producers to create safe and strong products for use in Canadian housing.

The gypsum board industry in North America has enjoyed an extended period of growth, resulting in record shipments and profits in 2005-2006. In the second half of 2006, however, the building industry entered a down cycle.