Proposta de sistema construtivo em compósito termoplástico para ilhas oceânicas

Abstract

The need for constant maintenance by buildings located on oceanic islands considerably increases the overall costs of its construction, due to the economic value of the materials used in the maintenances and to the long transportation distance, since such materials often come from the continent. Although generally more expensive than the wood itself – largely employed material in buildings planed for the Brazilian oceanic islands – because the thermoplastic composites known as plastic lumber are prefabricated, durable and low maintenance, even when exposed to the weather, under an initial evaluation, they are an efficient alternative for buildings designed for oceanic islands. So, this research aims to propose a constructive system, focusing on the development of a load-bearing building panel, both primarily composed of plastic lumber and designed for the research stations located on oceanic islands. In order to propose the constructive system, a hard body impact test, a soft body impact test and a compressive strength test were performed on prototypes of the load-bearing building panel. In turn, the prototypes were constructed based on design plans and detailing. The methods rely on literature review emphasizing issues related to thermoplastic composites, oceanic islands, research stations, technical standards and building systems. In order to validate the proposed building panel as appropriate to resist the tested tensions, the results of mechanical testing were compared to the requirements of the NBR 15575-2 and NBR 15575-4. The results were enough for the panel fit at the "Intermediate" level regarding the hard body impact test, but not enough to reach the "Minimum" level at the soft body impact test due to the non-accomplishment of only one requirement. Concerning the compressive strength, its design strength must be equal to 5,775N/cm² (0,05MPa). Finally, even not reaching the "Minimum" level at one of the three tests, it is believed that the load-bearing building panel has real possibility of application in research stations on oceanic islands, or even in single-story buildings in isolated areas and under high levels of weathering. Moreover, after improvements to enhance the performance of the panel at the soft body impact test, the possibility of using it to frame two-storied buildings can be considered.