British Columbia Institute of Technology

Final Report

Endura-Form Finite-Element Stress Analysis

Prepared by
BCIT Technology Centre
April 2008

Summary:

The Endura Form panels, made of High Density Polyethylene lends itself to a many applications because of its wide range of characteristics, among them:

• resistance to many different solvents,
• ability to withstand elevated temperatures (110 degrees Celsius continuously, albeit with a drop in load capacity)
• higher tensile strength than lower density polyethylene
• good impact resistance
• low weight (specific gravity of 0.95)
• low moisture absorption

Table 1: (see PDF document link below) Analysis results for Endura panel load capacity at room temperature (23o C), shows the maximum theoretical values of the loading of the panel before yielding or deformation takes place. This means once the load is removed, the panel will return to its original shape. For practical applications load factors and yield strength coefficients should be applied according to the relevant code of practice.

As indicated in Table 5 (see PDF document link below), temperature does not play a significant role in the ability of the panel to withstand loading when the panel is loaded at 23o Celsius or lower (tested down to -40o C). However, as the temperature rises above 23o Celsius (tested to +60o C), the ability of the Endura Form panels to withstand load, decreases as shown in Table 6. This shows that the material is much less “stiff” at higher temperatures (i.e. will deform more under a given load than at lower temperatures). Therefore, load capacity should be de-rated with temperature increases and design factors incorporated into the design when needed.

Testing results can be seen in Appendix A (see PDF document link below).

In the special loading case, where pipes were added into the panel structure, load capacity theoretically increased by 20-25% of the values in table 1 (see PDF document link below).

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