RESEARCH PROPOSAL
BASIC INFORMATION
I. Title: Flexural Behavior of a Nail and Bolt-connected Laminate Coconut Wood for Structural Application II. Proponent/s: XXX and Marlon YYY III. Agency/College/Department: CET IV. Research Site: Calbayog City V. Duration: 9 months VI. Budgetary Requirements: P 82, 490 VII. Funding Agency: NwSSU
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PROJECT DETAILS I. Introduction Wood has been used as a structural material for thousands of years. However, the typical process of harvesting wood does not offer the most environmentally friendly solution. It will take 20 years or more to take each log down (Rittironk, 2013). Aside from this, there is a growing concern of using wood due to over-using leading to the scarcity of supply of this material. Coconut wood can be a good substitute for many conventional woods in engineering applications. Like conventional wood, the coconut stem is durable, sturdy and versatile and can often be used at a considerably lower cost (Arancon, 2009). The cost of coconut wood is only about half or a little more than half the price of conventional wood traditionally used for structural purposes (APCC, 1995). This fact is especially attractive to countries including the Philippines with limited budgets for housing for their growing populations. There is, therefore, a need to study the situation and prospects for coconut wood utilization in a country, if it wishes to develop that industry. Coconut wood has a very high potential as an alternative structural material for commercial use because coconut trees are abundant in the Philippines and are useless after their seed production has completed, when the trees are cut down to allow for a new line of young production. In 2006, the total coconut area in the Asia and Pacific regions was estimated at 10.3 million hectares were in this total the Philippines has 31.5% share (Arancon, 2009). Consequently, the ready availability of this material is a great opportunity in the industry for structural application. The application of coconut wood can be extended as a structural member such as beam in low-rise shelter. Even though its flexural strength is somewhat lower than that of a hard wood (Rittironk, 2013), the researcher still fully supports the viability and sustainability of coconut wood as an alternative structural material. By developing further studies of this material, it could be transformed using engineering technology to increase its structural capacity. This method includes lamination technology and other composites technology used in conventional wood. Nailing and bolting are the common methods in joining timber material. These will also be the methods that will be adopted in the study in joining the coconut wood laminates. 2
This study will investigate the behavior of a laminated coconut wood under flexural loading. It is hoped that the output of this study will provide important information for the utilization of coconut wood for structural application.
II. Objectives In general, this study will investigate the flexural behavior of a laminated coconut wood. The following are the objectives of the study. 1. Characterize the flexural strength and modulus of a laminated coconut wood connected by 1.1. Common wire nail 1.2. Steel bolt 2. Describe the failure mode of the investigated laminated coconut wood 3. Compare the flexural strength and modulus of the laminated and non-laminated coconut wood 4. Compare the flexural strength and modulus of the laminated coconut wood and the hardwood
III. Literature Review Rittironk (2013) investigated the bending capacity of a Thai coconut wood using four-point bending test. A total of four specimens were used having a dimension of 50x125 mm section with an unsupported length of 3 meters. The test results showed that the structural properties of coconut wood are still somewhat lower as compared to Thai soft wood. In-spite of this result, he highlighted that it can still be used in small load structures like residential buildings. On the other hand, Fruhwald et al. (1992) characterized the mechanical properties such as bending strength and modulus of elasticity, compression strength, shear strength and impact bending of Indonesian coconut wood. The result indicated that strength properties of 3
coconut wood are within the range of common traditional timbers, though generally about 20-30% lower when compared on the basis of matching densities. This drawback can be compensated by either larger cross sectional dimensions or by selecting wood in a higher density range. The resistance of coconut wood to nail and screw holding has been studied by Fruhwald and Akrami (2014). They reported that its holding resistance is relatively lower than that of traditional timber species of comparable density. They emphasized that the resistance to splitting might be a problem and recommended that adequate measures such as pre-boring for nailing and screwing operations are required. Guzman (1989) studied the mechanical properties such as bending strength, compression parallel to grain and shear strength of Mexican coconut wood and compared them to the other species such Quercus castanea and Enterolobium cyclocarpum. He concluded that all properties tested including bending strength, compressive strength and shear strength decrease from the periphery to the center. Density influenced strongly all mechanical properties tested; higher density values were always associated to higher properties values. Coconut wood was highly variable regarding their physical and mechanical properties. Sulc (1983) assessed the mechanical properties of 80-year-old coconut palm stems compared those to other species such as oil palm. The mechanical properties in both palm species differ up to ten times across the stem. They are closely related with density and thus with the distribution of tissues. However, a distinct difference can be observed: all mechanical properties of coconut palm wood exceed those of oil palm wood. Mechanical properties at given positions in coconut palm stems measured from the bottom and are higher than those in oil palm. This is due to the general higher percentage of denser tissues in coconut palms (60%) compared with oil palm (30%). Rana et al. (2015) conducted a study to determine the physical and mechanical properties of a 40-year-old coconut wood. The test was done at different height positions (i.e., top, middle and bottom) and lateral positions (i.e., core and periphery). They reported that the modulus of elasticity and modulus of rupture values for air dry and oven dry conditions were 2374 and 2633 N/mm2 and 27.30 and 30.44 N/mm2, respectively. Moreover, the compression strength in parallel to grain and perpendicular to grain for air dry and oven dry 4
conditions were 12.41 and 12.85 N/mm2 and 9.28 and 9.64 N/mm2, respectively. They concluded that the stem of coconut palm can be used for different structural purposes. The physical and mechanical properties of a Malaysian coconut wood was characterized by Khairul et al. (2009). The coconut wood was divided into inner and outer parts and was tested under two different conditions (i.e., green and air dry conditions). The result showed that the physical and mechanical properties of the air-dried outer part of the coconut wood were 50% higher than that of the inner part under both conditions. They highlighted that this results proved that this is a potential material especially in the furniture industry. IV. Methodology/Methods Specimen The coconut log, preferably a 40-60 year old, will be collected from the area of Calbayog City. The age of the log will be determine from the information provided by the coconut farmer or from the method identified in the literature. It is important that a permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources should be secured prior to cutting of the coconut tree. The ready-sawn log will be cut into cross sections of 25x150 mm with varying lengths. The selection intended to use the harder wood (from the outside ring) and the core (inside ring) will both be used for structural purposes. Specimen will be made by joining 4 pieces of laminates of size 25x150 mm making a specimen of 100x150mm section. It should be noted that only Grade A coconut wood laminate will only be used in this study. The laminate will be joined by using a common wire nails and steel bolts. Table 1 shows the specimen description and dimension used in the study. A total of 30 specimens will be adopted in the present study. Table 1. Specimen description and dimension used in the study Specimen
Specimen
Type
Label S1 S2 S3 S4 S5
Orientation Lengthwise Lengthwise Edgewise Edgewise Lengthwise
Connection Bolted Bolted Bolted Bolted Common
of
Wire
No of layers for
No
the connection 1 layer 2 layers 1 layer 2 layers 1 layer
Specimen 3 3 3 3 3
of
Size, breadth x width (mm) 100x150 100x150 150x100 150x100 100x150
Nail 5
S6
Lengthwise
Common
Wire
2 layers
3
100x150
S7
Edgewise
Nail Common
Wire
1 layer
3
150x100
S8
Edgewise
Nail Common
Wire
2 layer
3
150x100
B1(Baseline) B2(Baseline)
Lengthwise Edgewise
Nail Non-laminated Non-laminated
-
3 3
150x100 100x150
Flexural Testing. Flexural tests will be performed on a bending testing machine using 3-point loading. All tests will be performed in a newly-acquired 2000-kn capacity Universal Testing Machine by the NwSSU. A ratio of the least dimension to the unsupported length of 1:16 will be used to ensure that it will fail in bending.
Analysis of Results Raw data collected from the test result will be analyzed using Excel spreadsheet. The observed failure modes of the specimen tested under flexural loading will be documented by a camera and will be stored for post analysis.
V. References Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC), 1995. Proceedings of XXXIV COCOTECH Meeting, on Technology Transfer and Application in Relation to the Coconut Industry, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, P 119-143. Fruhwald A. and A. Akrami (2014). Palm – an Alternative Raw Material for Structural Application. In: Proceedings Pacific Rim Conference on Wood Composites, Beijing, China. Fruhwald A., Peek R. and A. Schulte (1992). Coconut Timber Utilization, Eschborn, Germany, P 310. Guzman A.S. (1989). Guzman, AS. 1989. Determinacion De Algunas Caracteristicas Anatomicas Y Propiedades Tecnologicas Del Fuste De Palma De Coco (cocos nucifera L.). 6
Universidad Michoacana De san Nicolas De La Madera. Morelia (as cited by Fathi, L, 2014). Khairul et al. (2009). Properties of Malaysian Solid Coco-lumber, Cord, Volume 25, No 2, P 6370. Ranal, M. N., DasA. K. and Ashaduzzaman, M. (2015). Physical and Mechanical Properties of Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera) stem, Bangladesh Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, Vol 50, No 1, P 39-46. Rittironk, S (2013). Potential of Thai Coconut Wood as an Alternative Structural Material, Built, Volume 2, P 69-75. Romulo N. Arancon, R.N. (2009). The Situation and Prospects for the Utilization of Coconut Wood in the Asia and Pacific, A Report to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (Working Paper No. APFSOS II/WP/2009/15). Sulc, V.K. (1983). Grading Rules for Coconut Palm Wood. Report Prepared for the Philippine Government by FAO-UNDP. Regional Coconut Wood Training Programme RAS/81/110. Zamboanga City, Philippines.
VI. Work Plan Activities
Month 1
Month 2
Month 3
Month 4
X
X
Month 5
Month 6
Month 7
Month 8
Survey and selection on the suitable coconut
X
wood to be used Purchase of the specimen and other materials
X
X
needed for the project Cutting and slicing of coconut wood
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Month 9
Preparation of laminated specimen using nails and
X
X
X
X
X
bolts as connectors Conduct flexural testing Analysis of Data Preparation and
X X
X
X X
X
submission of Terminal Report
VII. Proposed Budget A) MOOE Description Coconut Wood (includes cutting, delivery, slicing into laminate) Steel Bolts (with nuts and washers) (P200/kg) Common Wire Nails (P 80/kg) Uniaxial strain gage (25 mm long) (P300/pc) Strain gage adopter (P500/pc) Super Glue (P 200/sachet) Acetone (P 150/bottle) Rotating saw blade Working gloves Safety shoes Safety goggles Overhead and Contingencies
Quantity lump 5 kg 3 kg 20 4 1 1 1 2 2 2 Lump
Total Cost P15,000 1000 240 6,000 2,000 200 150 2,000 500 3000 400 5,000
B) Personnel Services 1. Research Assistant (P12,000/Month for 3 Months) 2. Travel Expenses (Survey and selection on the suitable coconut wood to be used) 3. Honorarium of the 3.1 Study Leader (P 5,000)
P 36,000 P 3,000
P 8,000
3.2 Members (1 x P3,000)
Total Research Project Cost: P 82, 490 VIII.
List of Personnel 8
1. 1- Research Assistant IX. Cooperating Agencies X. Signature of Proponent/Co-Proponent and Date of Submission
XXX (Principal Proponent)
YYY (Co-Proponent)
Date Prepared: November 13, 2015
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