Synergistic Effect of APP and TBC Fire-Retardants on the Physico-Mechanical Properties of Strandboard

This study explored the feasibility of fabricating fire-retardant strandboard with low mechanical properties deterioration to the physico-mechanical properties. A hybrid fire-retardant system of ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and 1,3,5-tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)-1,3,5-triazinane-2,4,6-trione (TBC) was investigated. Thermogravimetric analysis results show that both APP and TBC enhance the thermal stability and incombustibility of wood strands. An infrared spectrum was applied to investigate the effect of flame retardants on the curing behaviors of polymeric diphenylmethane diisocyanate (PMDI) resin. Based on the results of limiting oxygen index (LOI) and Cone calorimetry (CONE), APP and TBC both lead to a higher fire retardancy to strandboard. It is worth mentioning that the two flame retardants lead to evidently differential influences on the modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE), internal bond (IB), and water-soaking thickness swelling (TS) properties of strandboard. Hence, a hybrid flame retardant is prominent in manufacturing strandboard with both good fire retardant and satisfying physico-mechanical properties.

Effect of Flyash- Rice Husk Ash Blend in the Energy Efficient Geopolymer Tiles Using Industrial Wastes

Infrastructural developments are inevitable for the developing countries and hence the production of sustainable building materials is promoted worldwide. Sustainable development in the vicinity of tiles is bewildered for more than a decade. Production of conventional tiles such as cement concrete tiles, clay tiles and ceramic tiles is energy intensive approach and levies lot of strain over the adjunct ecosystem. On the other hand there are serious problems related to the disposal of flyash, Rice Husk Ash throughout the world. An approach has been taken to synthesis tiles based on these industrial byproducts as the base materials through Geopolymer technology. In this work, Geopolymer mortar after heat curing is applied as tiles. In this work, Flyash is replaced by Rice Husk Ash in various proportions such as 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 percent. Tests such as workability, flatness, straightness, perpendicularity, water absorption, modulus of rupture and abrasion are conducted and fair results are obtained. This research also portrays the effect of Rise Husk Ash addition over the flyash based Geopolymer binder in the utility as tiles. The findings of this research work encourages the development of energy efficient tiles using industrial wastes. Keywords: Geopolymer, Rice Husk Ash, Tiles

Assessment of the asphalt mixtures properties subjected to a flexural strength

Fatigue cracking by loading is one of the main mechanisms of damage to asphalt mixtures in service. Several studies worldwide have been conducted to try to understand the response that hot-mix asphalt undergo under this mechanism of damage. Despite the above, the fatigue phenomenon in asphalt mixtures is still not fully understood. The current research hypothesizes that the response under repeated loading of asphalt mixtures in fatigue tests can be more clearly understood through the one obtained under monotonic loading. For this reason, this study presents the results of the first phase of the research in which beams of asphalt mixtures were subjected to flexion using monotonic loads. The above, to correlate the evaluated properties with those obtained in a second phase where the response of the beams under repeated load (fatigue) will be measured. Beams made of two hot-mix asphalt mixes, two asphalt contents, and two different thicknesses were subjected to flexural strength tests. From the tests, the modulus of rupture, the maximum monotonic load that supports the beams in the failure state, the displacement in the failure state, and the relation between load and displacement were obtained. As a general conclusion of the study, it was obtained that the response experienced by the beams subjected to monotonic load has a broad correlation with the reported in the reference literature.

Obtaining particulate agglomerates from the recycling of multilayer containers and low density polyethylene

Currently, the interest and the need to innovate new materials through the use of waste materials has grown, which meet similar or improved physical, chemical and mechanical characteristics of the materials they will replace. During the present investigation, Multilayer Containers (EM) and Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) were collected, particulate agglomerates with different proportions were obtained, the apparent density, water absorption, mass, volume, heat behavior, angle were determined. contact, machining and compression tests. With the objective of evaluating the proportions p / p in the properties. The advantage of the material obtained is that they do not generate waste and are 100% recyclable. The 90:10 ratio is the one that could be used in the construction industry as false walls, with a modulus of rupture of 52.7 N / mm2 and a compressive stress of 32.9 MP, because it can be machined without altering its characteristics. -physical houses; While the 85:15 and 80:20 proportions, since they cannot be machined, could be used as a floating support with a photocatalyst catalyst, due to the fact that these agglomerates have dimensional stability when in contact with water.

Study of Homogeneous Chipboard Manufacturing u sing Betung Bamboo (Dendrocalamus Asper) Mixed with Polyethylene Addictive

Bamboo is an evergreen plant native to Asia and America that grows at every altitude, even in unideal climate conditions. Betung bamboo or its scientific name Dendrocalamus Asper is one of the bamboo species that are easily found in peninsular Malaysia. This study examined the characteristics of Betung bamboo and its potential to manufacture chipboard. Several tests were conducted, namely modulus of elastic (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), thickness swelling (TS), and water absorption (WA) to evaluate the potential of Betung bamboo as the primary material in the manufacture of chipboard mixed with polyethylene as additive are the parameters considered. This study found that the composition of 70% bamboo and 30% polyethylene was produced optimum chipboard which met BS EN standards (British and European Standard). It was also found that the MOE and MOR values of the resulting chipboard exceeded the medium density board standards. For WA and TS values, the chipboard achieved the standard requirements. Thus, this study concludes that chipboard made of Betung bamboo with the addition of polyethylene is suitable to be applied for internal and external doors, and internal paneling for any commercial or domestic building and furniture.

Effect of Banana Fiber on Flexural Properties of Fiber Reinforced Concrete for Sustainable Construction

Currently, banana fiber composites have received wide attention because of their ecofriendly properties. The overall aim of this study is to prove banana fiber as an eco-efficient construction material by checking the behavior of banana fiber-reinforced concrete during flexural loading. The length of fiber is kept 50 mm and a fiber content of 5% by the weight of cement was used for preparing banana fiber reinforced concrete. It is shown from the results that the flexural toughness index (FTI) that has a vital role in sustainable concrete increased while the modulus of rupture (MOR) of banana fiber reinforced concrete decreased as compared to ordinary concrete.

Recycling Cigarette Butts in Ceramic Tiles

Cigarettes are one of the favoured commodities on our planet. However, the annual consumption of 5.7 trillion cigarettes and 75% littering rate results in cigarette butts (CBs) being one of the most critical environmental issues. The leachate of heavy metals and toxic chemicals is polluting our ecosystem and threatening the wildlife species. Therefore, it is crucial to find effective and efficient recycling methods to solve the growing CB waste issue. In this study, unglazed fired ceramic tiles were manufactured with 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5% shredded CBs by dry mass to investigate the feasibility of the proposed sustainable recycling method. The chemical and mineralogical characterisation, density, shrinkage, bulk density, breaking strength, water absorption, and modulus of rupture were investigated and compared with the Australian Standards for ceramic tiles (AS 4459). The results revealed that tiles incorporating 0.5% CBs by mass demonstrated the greatest performance compared to the other mixtures. The water absorption for all tile–CB mixtures was found to be greater than 10%, with a positive growth tendency. The addition of 0.5% CBs by mass slightly improved flexural strength from 15.56 MPa for control samples to 16.63 MPa. Tiles containing 0.5% CBs by mass satisfied the modulus of rupture and water absorption limits for group III class according to the Australian Standards (AS 13006), and they may be suitable to be used as wall tiles. The result of a simulation equation predicts that an energy savings of up to 7.79% is achievable during the firing process for ceramic tiles incorporating 1% CBs by mass.

Graphene-Reinforced Carbon-Bonded Coarse-Grained Refractories

Carbon-bonded alumina refractories offer excellent thermal shock performance but are lacking in terms of mechanical strength. In the present contribution, the influence of the particle packing and the addition of graphene oxide (GO) to carbon-bonded alumina refractories on the physical and mechanical properties before and after thermal shock was investigated. Coarse tabular alumina grains were coated by a GO suspension and used to prepare dry-pressed compacts. The included graphite fraction (15 wt%) was either regarded as a lubricating matrix component or as a quasi-spherical component of a calculated density-optimized aggregate size distribution. During coking, the GO was reduced to thermally reduced graphene. The porosity, true density and thermal shock behavior in terms of the cold modulus of rupture (CMOR) and Young’s modulus were compared. Samples with a higher density were obtained when the irregularly shaped graphite was considered as the matrix component (lubricant). The results showed that the use of GO had a positive impact on the mechanical properties of the graphene-reinforced Al2O3–C refractories, especially in the case of a less optimized packing, due to the bridging of delamination gaps. In addition, the thermal shock only had a minor impact on the Young’s modulus and CMOR values of the samples. SEM investigation revealed very similar microstructures in coked as well as thermally shocked samples.

Evaluation of Functional Features of Lignocellulosic Particle Composites Containing Biopolymer Binders

In this research, the assessment of the impact of natural biopolymer binders on selected mechanical and physical properties of lignocellulosic composites manufactured with different resination (12%, 15%, 20%). Different mechanical and physical properties were determined: modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity, internal bonding strength, thickness swelling, water absorption, contact angle, and density profile. Moreover, thermal properties such as thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry were studied for the polymers. The results showed significant improvement of characterized features of the composites produced using biopolymers. However, the rise of the properties was visible when the binder content raised from 12% to 15%. Further increase of biopolymer binder did not imply a considerable change. The most promising biopolymer within the tested ones seems to be polycaprolactone (PCL).

Effects of Coupling Agent and Thermoplastic on the Interfacial Bond Strength and the Mechanical Properties of Oriented Wood Strand–Thermoplastic Composites

Wood–plastic composites (WPC) with good mechanical and physical properties are desirable products for manufacturers and customers, and interfacial bond strength is one of the most critical factors affecting WPC performance. To verify that a higher interfacial bond strength between wood and thermoplastics improves WPC performance, wood veneer–thermoplastic composites (VPC) and oriented strand–thermoplastic composites (OSPC) were fabricated using hot pressing. The effects of the coupling agent (KH550 or MDI) and the thermoplastic (LDPE, HDPE, PP, or PVC) on the interfacial bond strength of VPC, and the mechanical and physical properties of OSPC, were investigated. The results showed that coupling agents KH550 and MDI improved the interfacial bond strength between wood and thermoplastics under dry conditions. MDI was better than KH550 at improving the interfacial bond strength and the mechanical properties of OSPC. Better interfacial bonding between plastic and wood improved the OSPC performance. The OSPC fabricated using PVC film as the thermoplastic and MDI as the coupling agent displayed the highest mechanical properties, with a modulus of rupture of 91.9 MPa, a modulus of elasticity of 10.9 GPa, and a thickness swelling of 2.4%. PVC and MDI are recommended to fabricate WPCs with desirable performance for general applications.