Development of Biobased Sandwich Structures for Mass Transit Application

Abstract

Efforts to increase the biobased content in sandwich composites are being investigated to reduce the dependence on synthetically produced or mined, energy-intensive materials for numerous composite applications. Vegetable oil-based polyurethane foams are gaining recognition as good substitutes for synthetic counter parts while utilizing bast fiber to replace fiberglass is also gaining credence. In this study, soy oil-based polyurethane foam was evaluated as a core in a sandwich construction with facesheets of hybridized kenaf and E-glass fibers in a vinyl ester resin matrix to replace traditionally used plywood sheeting on steel frame for mass transit bus flooring systems. As a first step towards implementation, the static performance of the biobased foam was compared to 100% synthetic foam. Secondly, biobased sandwich structures were processed and their static performance was compared to plywood. The biobased sandwich composites designed and processed were shown to hold promise towards replacing plywood for bus flooring applications by displaying an increase of 130% for flexural strength and 135% for flexural modulus plus better indentation values.