Department - Author 1

Materials Engineering Department

Degree Name - Author 1

BS in Materials Engineering

Date

6-2013

Primary Advisor

Blair London

Abstract/Summary

Bamboo plies of 1/8" and 1/32" thicknesses were glued together to form multiple unidirectional and cross-ply laminates that measured 12" by 12". The thickness of each laminate was between 0.25" and 0.375". All laminates were pressed together with a Tetrahedron MTP-10 bench top precision press at 75°F and 1000 lbf for 40 minutes. Laminates were then cut with a band-saw into four 3" by 12" test specimens, 24 hours after pressing. Each test specimen was three-point bend tested to identify the modulus of rupture (MOR) and apparent bending stiffness. Three-point bend testing was also performed on laminates that were cut from four commercially produced longboard skateboard decks. The manufacturer described the laminates used for each longboard skateboard deck as: a bamboo-core fiberglass sandwich, 5 plies of laminated bamboo, 7 plies of Canadian Maple and a hybrid of bamboo and Canadian Maple. Additional testing was performed on self-constructed laminate orientations that exhibited similar or greater MOR or apparent bending stiffness values to the commercially available longboard skateboard decks to identify the variability associated with gluing and pressing these laminate orientations. These laminates had significantly different MOR and apparent bending stiffness values compared to previously constructed laminates, despite having the same laminate orientation. The variance in MOR and apparent bending stiffness values is believed to be a result of the quantity of glue used to create each laminate, mechanical property differences in each bamboo ply utilized and differences associated with laminating due to the curvature of each bamboo ply.

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