Bio-Based Composite Roof for Residential Construction

Abstract

Bio-based composites are an innovative new class of materials that offer many advantages over traditional fiber reinforced composite materials, and may be suitable for use in light duty construction. A study was conducted to develop a bio-based composite roof structure, suitable for residential construction. First, to develop basic information about the flexural performance of the bio-composite, seven different beams were fabricated using a soybean oil-based resin and natural reinforcement (flax or recycled paper). The beams were tested in four-point bending to failure. Results showed that the beams made with recycled paper wrapped around the foam cores were the strongest and the stiffest of the beams tested. Using this composite design, a monolithic composite roof system was designed for residential construction. A scale model unit width beam from the roof was fabricated and tested. Tests included three- and four-point bending, a quasi-distributed load test, and test to failure. The model beam was shown to satisfy the design deflection criteria and had an ultimate strength 11 times greater than the design load. As this was a true scale model specimen, the results demonstrate that the prototype roof would also satisfy the design criteria for strength and stiffness, with similar factors of safety.