Department - Author 1
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Manufacturing Engineering
Date
3-2010
Primary Advisor
Daniel Waldorf
Abstract/Summary
This project is a study on the feasibility of introducing bamboo as an alternative material for the application of drumsticks. The American drumstick industry has been historically very stable and robust due to its commitment to high quality. This high quality comes at the price of large amounts of waste that is largely burned to provide facility heating. With the recent push for corporate responsibility of the total life cycle of their products and the push for increased sustainability, bamboo was considered as a viable resource as a partial alternative or complete replacement. Prototypes of the bamboo drumsticks were fabricated using a technique discussed as radial lamination to increase overall stiffness which is crucial to a drumstick's functionality and an economic analysis was conducted. It was concluded that the overall prospect of using bamboo as an alternative to hickory or conventional hardwoods for drumsticks, even with the production cost increase of employing radial lamination, is economically and environmentally feasible.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/imesp/2