Development of high-strength wooden pallets utilizing local timber from Ehime Prefecture

Abstract

Wooden pallets account for a large percentage of pallets indispensable for logistics. From the viewpoint of strength and rigidity, pallets made of foreign timber (e.g., American pine) are the mainstream, and pallets made of domestic timber, especially cypress and cedar, which are inexpensive in terms of log price, are rarely distributed. The objective of this research is to develop a domestic wood pallet with high strength and rigidity comparable to that of American pine. Structural analysis using the finite element method was conducted to calculate stresses and strains under bending and compressive loads. The analytical results were also verified by JIS flat pallet bending and compression tests.

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