STRENGTH PERFORMANCE AND DIMENSIONAL STABILITY OF WOOD STYROFOAM COMPOSITE REINFORCED WITH GMELINA ARBOREA PARTICLES

Abstract

Styrofoam waste has become a very serious environmental problem at the moment. An attempt to recycle Styrofoam waste into useful products was considered in this study. This study investigated the strength performance and dimensional stability of Styrofoam Composites (WSC) reinforced with wood particles derived from conversion of Gmelina arborea logs. Styrofoam wastes were milled into particles and appropriately weighed into three quantities of 202g, 230g, and 258g. Each quantity of Styrofoam was dissolved in 350 mL acetone (solvent) to formed matrix for wood reinforcement at appropriate quantities 40g, 80g, and 120g respectively. The mix materials were proportionately pressed to form WSC at varying ratios of 40/202, 40/230, 40/258, 80/202, 80/230, 80/258, 120/202, 120/230 and 120/258 weight to weight basis. Properties such as density, water absorption (WA), thickness swelling (TS), modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), and compression were investigated. The results ranged from 916.43 N/mm2 to 1921.94N/mm2, 20.13 N/mm2 to 38.87 N/mm2 and 5.81 N/mm2 to 13.72N/mm2 for MOE, MOR and compression. The dimensional stability results ranged from 0.6 g/cm3 to 1.1 g/cm3, 2.03 % to 9.32 %, and 0.07% to 1.26 % for density, WA, and TS. All variable factors were significant in the properties assessed except in MOR for Styrofoam content. As revealed, WSC of 40g/231g (wood/Styrofoam) performed best in strength and dimensional stability. This procedure and materials combination can be recommended for the manufacture of lightweight boards for interior fitments while recycling of Styrofoam for composites may help to solve the environmental menace caused after discarded to the streets as waste.