Modeling and Calibration of a Laminating Press Prototype for Fiber-Reinforced Polymer-Glulam Billets
Hong, Y
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, ME.

Muszynski, L
Department of Wood Science and Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR.

Lopez-Anido, RA
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center, University of Maine, Orono, ME.

(Received 30 July 2003; accepted 23 March 2005)

Abstract
The design, modeling, and calibration procedure of a prototype mechanical clamping device for fabricating wood and fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite laminated billets for ASTM D 2559 delamination tests and shear block tests is presented. Quality bonding of the billets requires clamping the laminate under uniformly distributed pressure of a specified level for a span of time necessary for the resin to cure. The specific time and pressure level that may be applied depends on the type of resin and species of wood used. To meet the requirements, a mechanical clamping device was designed to provide control over the applied stress level and maintain the minimum required pressure for up to 24 h. A calibration procedure was developed in order to adjust the flow of the excess resin being pressed out of the gluelines in the first stage of clamping, as well as the nonlinear time-dependent behavior of the laminate material. The calibration procedure involved determining the correlation between the average torque applied when tightening the four closing nuts and the clamping pressure between the steel plates. In addition, a procedure to determine the laminate materials' specific clamping pressure loss over 24 h was established.

Keywords:
adhesives, composite materials, creep, fiber-reinforced polymers, glulam, laminates, laminating press, mechanism, rate effects, viscoelasticity, wood

Paper ID: JTE12096
DOI: 10.1520/JTE12096

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Author Hong, Y Affiliation Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, ME. Author Muszynski, L Affiliation Department of Wood Science and Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR. Author Lopez-Anido, RA Affiliation Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center, University of Maine, Orono, ME. Author Hong Y, Muszynski L, Lopez-Anido RA Title Modeling and Calibration of a Laminating Press Prototype for Fiber-Reinforced Polymer-Glulam Billets Symposium , Committee on