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RSP TEST RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS - FOR PLAY MART, INC.
(RECYCLED STRUCTURAL PLASTICS)
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING TESTING LAB AT LEHIGH UNIVERSITY, BETHLEHEM, PA.
MAY 1998 C.J. COGHLAN
RSP 3.2 TEST: PLASTIC LUMBER HARDNESS TESTING - 1998 RSP 3.3 TEST: PLASTIC LUMBER IMPACT TESTING - 1998 |
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3.2 TEST: PLASTIC LUMBER HARDNESS TESTING - (SURFACE RESISTANCE TO MARRING) |
| A STEEL BALL OF .444" IN DIAMETER IS DRIVEN TO ONE-HALF ITS DIAMETER INTO THE SURFACE OF THE MATERIAL. |
| THE AVERAGE FORCE OF SIX TESTS FOR RSP PLASTIC LUMBER. |
2471.79 lbs. |
2471.79 / 448.46= 5.51 RATIO |
| THE AVERAGE FORCE OF SIX TESTS FOR WOOD. |
448.46 lbs. |
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CONCLUSION 1: RSP IS 5.51 TIMES MORE RESISTANT TO SURFACE MARRING THAN WOOD. |
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3.2.5 Conclusions: "It has been consistently shown that recycled lumber is not as strong in bending as is wood. RSP lumber is, however, almost six times as hard as is wood. In hardness testing, it was found that the orientation of the fiber in wood does allow it to be a factor in hardness. While this contributes to the fact that it is more difficult to cut, it also allows RSP recycled lumber to stand up to greater impact forces. This will enable RSP lumber to be handled more roughly than wood." (RSP is defacing-proof.) |
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CONCLUSION 2: VANDALISM IS DIRECTED AT THE SURFACE OF ALL PRODUCTS FIRST. RSP IS MORE VANDAL RESISTANT TO SURFACE
DEFACING. BECAUSE THE COLOR PENETRATES THE ENTIRE CROSS-SECTIONAL PROFILE, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SCRATCH OFF THE COLOR OF THE MATERIAL. |
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RSP SURFACE IS VANDAL RESISTANT
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3.3 TEST: PLASTIC LUMBER IMPACT TESTING -
(STRUCTURAL RESISTANCE TO BREAKING) |
| 3.3.1 "RSP Lumber appears to have a number of properties that give it advantages over wood in certain applications. One area that this may occur is in its resistivity to sudden impact. In order to quantify this theory, Charpy impact testing was conducted on specimens of both RSP Lumber and wood." |
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Material Tested |
Breaking energy required @ room temperature |
Breaking energy required @ 14 deg. F temperature |
| Four Identical RSP test samples |
138.2 ft.lbs |
137.8 ft.lbs |
| Four Identical wood test samples |
126.8 ft.lbs |
127.1 ft.lbs |
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RSP BREAKING STRENGTH / WOOD BREAKING STRENGTH |
ROOM TEMPERATURE RSP = 108.99% OF WOOD |
FROZEN RSP = 108.42% OF WOOD |
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3.3.7 Conclusions: "The Charpy Impact test is used to measure the impact resistivity of a given material. It measures the amount of energy necessary to break a standard sized specimen of the material. This test was used to measure the impact resistivity of RSP lumber and wood. In both cases, the breaking energy of RSP Lumber was greater than that of the wooden specimen used. The difference between the two fracture energies at room temperature was 11.4 ft.-lbs. The difference between the two fracture energies at 14 deg. F. was 10.7 ft-lbs. From this it can be inferred that RSP Lumber will be able to resist greater impact forces than wood." |
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RSP IS IMPACT BREAK RESISTANT |
