Spray deposition of cork reinforced polyester
Author(s)
Pope, Benjamin J
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Other Contributors
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.
Advisor
David R. Wallace.
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The objective of this research is to enable large part or high volume manufacturing processes to make consumer or industrial products from a cork reinforced polymer composite, similar to current applications of glass reinforced polyester. The low initial investment and high flexibility of the spray lay-up process make it an attractive candidate to study. A spray lay-up apparatus was successfully constructed and employed in manufacturing parts from a hybrid material composed of granulated cork, chopped glass strand, and a polyester matrix. The material was tested for tensile and flexural properties following relevant ASTM standards. The material was found to have a tensile strength of 4.4 MPa and tensile modulus of 850 MPa. The flexural strength and modulus were 9 MPa and 830 MPa, respectively. Adding a fiberglass skin to the cork hybrid significantly improved its flexural strength. Additionally, a small turbine blade prototype was created as a proof of concept. It is recommended that further work focus on optimizing the hybrid material's properties, re-designing and optimizing the apparatus used for the spray-up process, and demonstrating material viability by manufacturing a cross section of a large turbine blade.
Description
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2010. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 55-57).
Date issued
2010Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical EngineeringPublisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Keywords
Mechanical Engineering.