The Effect of Bonding Material Concentration on the Shear Strength of a Composite
The objective of this experiment was to determine if a composite material of recycled paper and bonding material would yield strength properties similar to that of wood. Composite materials were made by mixing three different concentrations of a bonding material with water and recycled material. The concentrations used were 20ml, 30ml, and 40ml of Titebond Original Wood Glue with a constant concentration of water being 50ml and a constant amount of recycled material with a mass of 20g. Ten composite materials were made for each concentration of bonding material. These composite materials, as well as ten samples of balsa wood, were all broken using the Structures and Materials Tester to measure the shear strength of the material. The values for the shear strength of the composite materials were then compared to the shear strength of the balsa wood using two-sample t-tests to analyze the significance of the values of the composite materials. The results of these two-sample t-tests show that the shear strengths of each of the bonding concentrations are significantly weaker than the shear strength of the balsa wood. This means that the composite materials made do not yield strength properties similar to that of wood.
Research Done By:
Alex Birch
Warren Woods Tower High School
Kyle Hildebrandt
Warren Woods Tower High School
Warren Consolidated Schools