By: Alex Matteson & Sean Oeler
Adviser: Dr. K. Yan
Expanded polystyrene is a commonly used building material in many different applications, including surfing. However, the toxic nature of the product and the recent closing of Clark Foam, the world’s largest surfboard blank supplier, a replacement must be found in order to reduce pollution and fill the consumer demand for surfboards. For these reasons, our project hopes to find a polystyrene replacement that can first be applied to maritime construction and then applied to many different construction applications.
Using a wide selection of replacement materials, small-scale samples in various combinations of the selected materials will be tested. These tests will look for torsional rigidity, longitudinal flex, impact toughness, saltwater corrosion resistance, and manufacturability. Once the best combination of materials has been found, computational structural and fluid analysis will be done on a 3D prototype to give visual and numerical data of stresses in surfing and allow for prototype optimization.
Once finite analysis of the prototype is completed, small-scale testing will be conducted in a flume to verify calculations and numerical analysis of the prototype. This will allow for further optimization of the prototype for full-scale production. Finally, after small-scale testing, a full-scale prototype will be manufactured and tested in Long Beach Island, NJ. Future work on the project will depend on the outcome of the real world testing of the prototype. With a budget of $1,370, this project can be completed to the fullest extent needed for testing and production.