Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2011 Comparison and analysis of biobased/ biodegradable and petrochemical cutlery flexibility Brian J. Demmer Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Demmer, Brian J., "Comparison and analysis of biobased/biodegradable and petrochemical cutlery flexibility" (2011). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 12136. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/12136 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Comparison and analysis of biobased/biodegradable and petrochemical cutlery flexibility by Brian John Demmer A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Industrial & Agricultural Technology Program of Study Committee: David Grewell, Major Professor Steven Freeman Carolyn Heising Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2011 Copyright © Brian John Demmer, 2011. All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION This paper is dedicated to my loving family and friends iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT ..............................................................................................................................x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................1 1.2 Environmental Advantages of Biorenewable Polymers .........................................6 1.3 History of Plastics .................................................................................................12 1.4 The structure of polymers .....................................................................................16 1.5 Polymers Strengths ...............................................................................................21 1.6 Plastics feedstock ..................................................................................................23 1.7 Types of plastics, plasticizers and additives .........................................................24 1.8 Dent Corn ..............................................................................................................28 1.9 Manufacture of plastics .........................................................................................30 1.9.1 Extrusion .........................................................................................................31 1.9.2 Injection Molding .............................................................................................34 1.9.3 Blow molding...................................................................................................35 1.9.3.1 Injection Blow Molding .............................................................................36 1.9.3.2 Extrusion Blow Molding ...........................................................................37 1.9.3.3 Stretch Blow Molding ...............................................................................37 1.10 Background of the study .....................................................................................38 1.11 Objective .............................................................................................................40 CHAPTER 2. METHODS ......................................................................................................41 2.1 Equipment & Materials .........................................................................................41 2.2 Procedure ..............................................................................................................42 2.3 Fork Testing Procedure ..........................................................................................45 2.4 Knife Testing Procedure .......................................................................................49 2.5 Spoon Testing Procedure ......................................................................................54 2.6 Finite Element Analysis .........................................................................................58 2.7 Creep Testing ........................................................................................................60 CHAPTER 3. RESULTS & DISCUSSION ...........................................................................63 3.1 Forks ......................................................................................................................63 3.2 Knife .....................................................................................................................73 iv 3.3 Spoon ....................................................................................................................83 3.4 Finite Element Analysis ........................................................................................91 3.5 Creep Testing ........................................................................................................98 CHAPTER 4. CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................100 4.1 Future Research ...................................................................................................101 REFERENCES. ....................................................................................................................102 APPENDIX A. FORKS .........................................................................................................107 APPENDIX B. KNIVES .......................................................................................................109 APPENDIX C. SPOONS .......................................................................................................111 APPENDIX D. COMPANIES ...............................................................................................113 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Generation and recovery of materials in MSW 2008 (in millions of tons and percent of generation) ............................................................................................................10 Table 2. Common characteristics of crystalline and amorphous plastics ................................21 Table 3. GSA-maximum allowed deflection ..........................................................................43 Table 4. Mechanical properties of materials analyzed using FEA (SI units) .........................59 Table 5. GSA accepted deflection levels ................................................................................63 Table 6. Resin type and relative biobased content ..................................................................64 Table 7. Fork lower and upper tolerance intervals .................................................................71 Table 8. Amount of forks that deflect greater than GSA deflection acceptance level ............72 Table 9. Knife lower and upper tolerance intervals ................................................................80 Table 10. Amount of knives that deflect greater than GSA deflection acceptance level .......81 Table 11. Spoon lower and upper tolerance intervals .............................................................89 Table 12. Relative amount of spoons that deflect greater than GSA deflection acceptance level .........................................................................................................................90 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. World plastics production 1950–2008 for thermoplastics, polyurethanes, thermosets, elastomers, adhesives, coatings and sealants, and PP‐fibers .................1 Figure 2. Location of plastics manufacturers and numbers of industry employees in the United States .............................................................................................................2 Figure 3. 2009 United States plastics usage by market ............................................................3 Figure 4. Closed cycle of bioplastics ........................................................................................5 Figure 5. Amount of bioplastics consumed per year from 2000 to 2060 .................................7 Figure 6. Comparison of greenhouse gas emissions during plastics manufacturing ................8 Figure 7. Comparison of nonrenewable energy use during plastics manufacturing .................9 Figure 8. MSW recovery rates 1960–2008 .............................................................................11 Figure 9. Total U.S. MSW generation by material in 2008, including waste from residential, commercial, and institutional sources .....................................................................12 Figure 10. Polystyrene chemical structure