Materials and Design 30 (2009) 41834191

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Materials and Design

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matdes

Design, optimization and manufacturing of woodplastic composite pallet

E. Soury, A.H. Behravesh *, E. Rouhani Esfahani, A. Zolfaghari
Faculty of Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, P.O. Box 14115-143, Iran

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 2 February 2009
Accepted 27 April 2009
Available online 8 May 2009
Keywords:
Pallet
Woodplastic composite
Genetic algorithm

a b s t r a c t
This paper presents the application of an innovative method of optimization to the design of an I-shape
prole used in a woodplastic composite (WPC) pallet. The pallet was made via assembling three WPC
extruded proles manufactured in the extrusion process. The middle prole was considered to be
I-shaped, a design which known to have a high load bearing capability. However, due to the characteristics of WPC products, a delicate design and thus optimization is highly required. A multi-objective-optimization program of micro-genetic algorithm was developed in Visual Basic environment to accomplish
the optimization task. By specifying the dimensional variables of the prole section and applying nite
elements analysis on the prole and then using the optimization program, an optimal prole section
was obtained. The objective was to withstand the maximum load while yielding the minimum deection
and mass. The optimized design was used to manufacture a die and then the product was produced to
validate the design. The comparison of simulations and experimental results indicted that the given
design method is reasonably reliable. The nal mass of the produced pallet was less than 20 kg whereas
its strength against bending and distributed smooth restraint loading were greater than 500 kg and
2000 kg, respectively.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Pallets are of the essential product in various industrial sectors
to be used for handling and transporting cargos and products [1
5]. Numerous designs and types of pallets are commercially available to satisfy variety of load bearing requirements. These include
stringer pallets, block pallets, panel deck pallets, four-way pallets,
to name a few. Pallets are designed so that products and goods can
be easily retrieved and delivered using lift trucks such as forklifts
and pallet jacks [6]. They are usually being made of various materials such as wood, metal and plastic [79]. Most pallets are made
of wood, as nearly 400 million wood pallets are produced annually,
accounting for 86% of all pallets sold worldwide [7]. Although
wood pallets are cheap compared to non-wood pallets, such as metal and plastic pallets, they have some disadvantages, including: (i)
degradation due to the environmental factors, (ii) unreliable performance of the pallet over a period of time due to the method
of fastening members of the pallet, by nailing or screwing, and
(iii) forest depletion due to the excessive use of trees. Due to these
disadvantages, some pallet manufacturers use metals and plastics
instead of wood, as the raw materials for pallet manufacturing.
Plastic pallets that are lightweight, fairly strong and durable are
now increasingly used in the material handling industry, replacing
conventional wood pallets. Plastic pallets are, however, three to
* Corresponding author. Fax: +98 21 82883381.
E-mail address: amirhb@modares.ac.ir (A.H. Behravesh).
0261-3069/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2009.04.035

ve times more expensive than wood pallets, though the extra cost
is usually offset by the number of trips and shipments that can be
achieved with plastic pallets compared to the wooden pallets. The
main disadvantage of plastic pallets is its non-biodegradable property, which is environmentally hazardous if disposed or burnt.
Recycling plastic pallets is a remedy although expensive [6,10].
Woodplastic composite (WPC) is a new material and its use is
rapidly growing. WPC is made by mixture of wood (in shape of
sawdust) and polymeric materials (such as polyethylene and polypropylene) [1115]. One method of manufacturing a pallet is rstly
to produce proles and then to assemble them by fastening medium such as nails, rivets and screws (the same as wood pallets).
In manufacturing pallets, made of woodplastic composite, the
proles of the pallet are produced via the extrusion process. An
advantage of using extrusion process is the capability of designing
and optimizing the prole, and this can be enhanced by computer
aided design of the extrusion die. It must be mentioned that manufacturing WPC pallet in one piece using injection molding process
is highly challenging due to the high possibility of wood burning.
This is because this process accompanies a high shear rate due to
the rapid injection speed, thus generating excessive heat.
The existing woodplastic pallets in market are mainly heavy
weighted, and thus, they are not favorable to industries. Thus, it
is essential to reduce the mass to an acceptable level. However, this
mass reduction must be performed in such a manner that the pallet load endurance is not compromised. Hence, it is required that
the pallet proles be optimized [16]. The pallet can be designed

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E. Soury et al. / Materials and Design 30 (2009) 41834191

corresponding pallets according to the Pallet Design System

(PDS) [29] which are listed as following, and are shown in Fig. 2:
1. Loading on top deck board.
2. Loading on stringer.
3. Resistance to pressure on a at ground surface and an evenly
distributed loading on the pallets.
4. Evenly distributed loading along the longitudinal sides resting
on two supports.
5. Evenly distributed loading with two stands located at the pallets width.

Fig. 1. A general model of pallet design.

Table 1
The material specications used in stress analyses [28].
Full material name

Young
modulus
(MPa)

Poisson
ratio

Density
(kg/m2)

Tensile
strength
(MPa)

North wood plastics polypropylene

with 60% wood ber, extrusion
grade

6000

0.38

1142

21

and its load capacity can be analyzed using a software package and
a computer simulation [1719].
2. Material and method
2.1. Problem statement
A typical design of a pallet is shown in Fig. 1. The horizontal
proles (stringers) with an I-shape section were optimized in this
research work. In wooden pallets, rectangular sections are usually
used since fabricating I-shape sections are too difcult and also too
expensive [20]. An I-shape section is one of the suitable sections to
endure bending and compression loads. In woodplastic pallets,
typically, the cross sections such as hollow rectangular sections
are used [21,22].
The optimum pallet is considered to be the one which could
stand against a higher load while having a lower mass [9]. To
achieve this target, optimization of each single prole is required.
The goal of this research is to improve the prole design of the
I-shaped prole which is the main contributor to the load bearing
capability of the designed pallet. The method was to use a multiobjective micro-genetic algorithm optimization. This is a powerful
algorithm of optimization, usually used in multi-objective problems. Some application of this algorithm can be found in references
[2327]. In this paper the method of optimization of an I-shape
prole section of the woodplastic composite pallet is thus
explained.

These analyses are performed to specify the strength of the pallets in the storage and transport usages. In storage usage, the purpose is to test the static load bearing capacity of the pallet. In
transportation, the purpose is to test the tolerance against harsh
dynamic load condition of carrying pallet using the liftrucks and
conveyers.
As the rst step, various design congurations of proles were
analyzed and compared. The detailed analyses are given in Ref.
[16]. The main purpose was to attain the most suitable design
and the number of each prole for the pallet. The general outcome
of these analyses was that the most suitable shape for the stringers
and top deck were I-shape and E-shape, respectively, to yield an
optimum load bearing capacity-to-weight ratio. In addition, three
stringers and six top deck boards were found to be more suitable
for arranging the proles.
Further analyses were carried out using aided methods of classic strength of materials. These analyses were performed to specify
the approximate fundamental thicknesses of the proles by a simple analytical method with two variables (ange thickness and
web thickness of stringer I-Shape proles). This prole was loaded
under distributed smooth restraint loading (for storage purpose)
and also bending loading (for transporting purpose). All of the
loading conditions and tests are specied in ASTM-D1185 standard
which is listed in Table 2. A safety factor of two was assumed in the
analyses. The results are given in Table 3 and the corresponding
section is shown in Fig. 3. These values were used to determine
the variables range for the following analyses.

2.2. Finite element analysis

The properties of the similar WPC material used for nite element stress analysis are listed in Table 1 which is based on a selected commercial WPC material named North Wood Plastics
Polypropylene with 60% Wood Fiber, Extrusion Grade [28]. Five
types of FEM analyses were performed on the proles and the

Fig. 2. Five types of FEM analyses on pallets and their proles.

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E. Soury et al. / Materials and Design 30 (2009) 41834191

Table 2
The specications of pallet loading test in ASTM-D1185 standard.
Tests

Test load level

Maximum allowable deformation

after 2 h under test load

Maximum residual deformation

after 1 h recovery at datum load

Compression tests of deck spacers

Bending tests on pallets
Bending tests on pallet decks

(1.1) (M)a (R)b

(1.25) (M)a (R)b
Top deck (1.1) (M)a (R)b
Bottom deck (1.1) (Ma  1) (R)b

4 mm
0.019  L1 or L2c
0.015  L3d
0.015  L3d

1.6 mm
0.0075  L1 or L2c
0.0053  L3d
0.0053  L3d

a
b
c
d

M is the maximum number of unit loads stacked one on top of another during pallet use.
R is a preliminary safe working load which is the average failure load adjusted to an appropriate safety level. For wood pallets, a common adjustment factor is 0.35.
When supporting pallets under the top deck, the span between supports or overhang of the supports representing the largest deformation shall be used.
L3 is the longest span between deck spacers.

Table 3
The specications of I-shape prole obtained using aided methods of classic strength of materials.
Mass (kg)

2.132

Safety factor

Static Loading

Bending loading

Load (N)

Stress (MPa)

Deection (mm)

Load (N)

Stress (MPa)

Deection (mm)

64,134

11.9

1.43

3836.6

10.6

5.21

Fig. 5. The cross-section of the I-shape prole and the dimensional variables
(dimensions in mm).

Fig. 3. The dimensions of I-shape prole obtained using aided methods of classic
strength of materials.

Fig. 4. Rib and llet in the I-shape pallet prole.

Using the above analyses and also considering the manufacturing limitations, the general plan of the I-shape prole section of
pallet was obtained as shown in Fig. 4. Total length of the prole
according to standard pallets is 1.2 m. As shown in Fig. 4, the ribs
were used to suppress buckling in the distributed smooth restraint
condition of loading. The llets are accommodated to reduce stress
concentration at the corners.
As the nal step, the purpose was to nd dimensions where the
nal mass decreases, and simultaneously, load capacity increases.
The initial task was to specify the number of independent dimensional variables of the prole design. Some dimensions are considered constant due to the limitations imposed by the available
standards. According to these considerations, the primary design
of the prole was specied as shown in Fig. 5, which presents seven dimensional variables. In the next phase, the limits of each variable were determined as given in Table 4, considering lack of
conict among variables and also manufacturing limitations.
It must be mentioned that one special and discrete variable is
the number of small ribs which was considered to be either 1 or
2. Thus, except the number of Ribs that could change in two levels, all of the specied variables were changed in three levels.

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E. Soury et al. / Materials and Design 30 (2009) 41834191

Table 4
The dimensional variables of prole and their limits.
10
4.5
50
5
2
0
1

6
6
6
6
6
6
6

d1
d2
d3
d4
d5
R
Ribs

6
6
6
6
6
6
6

12
5.5
60
10
5
5
2

The appropriate loading mode used for optimizing the prole

based on the buckling deection is distributed loading with generally smooth constraint as illustrated in Fig. 6. The stress map of
an analyzed prole is showed in Fig. 7 which indicates the critical
points on the I-shape cross-section. Due to a large number of variables, the experiment design method of Taguchi aided with MINITAB software was employed to specify the number of nite
element analysis necessary to determine the effect of each variable
[30]. Consequently, 36 series of experiments were designed as
listed in Table 5. The table also shows the resulted analysis of each
experiment indicating the maximum deection via loading including the values of prole mass.
A linear function, Eq. (1), was used to t a curve through the
data given in Table 5. In this equation X1 to Xn are the dimensional
variables presented in Table 4. Parameter C is a constant and A1 to
An are the coefcients of the variables. The constant and the coefcients can be calculated using a general purpose mathematical
software.

F C A1 X 1 A2 X 2 . . . An X n

Fig. 7. The stress map in an analyzed I-shape prole.

The function of deection was obtained as given in Eq. (2)

applying a curve t via linear regression using MINITAB software:
3. Results and discussion

Deflection 3:00  0:0377d1  0:260d2 0:00388d3

 0:00892d4 0:00514d5  0:0113R6
 0:0719Ribs

3.1. Multi objective optimization

In addition, the mass function was determined as below:

Mass 1:56 0:124d1 0:0995d2 0:0303d3

0:0183d4 0:0303d5 0:00747R6
0:0939Ribs

Fig. 6. Loading condition of the pallet prole.

In this phase, using the two calculated functions, optimization

of the prole section was performed based on the objective of
achieving maximum load, minimum deection and minimum
mass. A method employed in multi objective optimization is micro-genetic algorithm that was presented by Coello [31]. The basic
principal in genetic algorithm is that each generation of chromosome should have a better property than the previous generation.
This chromosome can be viewed as a mathematical variable. The
benet of using micro-genetic algorithm instead of typical genetic
algorithm is its higher speed of convergence. The algorithm was
written using Visual Basic language the owchart of which is
shown in Fig. 8. As illustrated in this gure, the task phases of micro-genetic algorithm are as follow:
1. Creation of initial random population: this phase contains creation of a random population of chromosomes the designer
determines the magnitude of this population.
2. Evaluation of population: weight is given to each chromosome
based on its accordance with the target.
3. Creation of a new population of the chromosomes: the parents can
be selected randomly or based on their accordance with target.
4. Evaluation of population: in genetic algorithm, the population
should be continually evaluated till the convergence gauge is
earned. Natural selection or establishing the best similar
instances in creation of a new population accomplishes such
that the new members have higher proximity with the supposition of the optimum point.
5. The number of population should be xed at all stages.

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E. Soury et al. / Materials and Design 30 (2009) 41834191

Table 5
The 36 series of variables data used in algorithm and their results.
Exp. no.

d1

d2

d3

d4

d5

Rib

Mass (kg)

Deection (mm)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36

10
11
12
10
11
12
10
11
12
10
11
12
10
11
12
10
11
12
10
11
12
10
11
12
10
11
12
10
11
12
10
11
12
10
11
12

4.5
5
5.5
4.5
5
5.5
4.5
5
5.5
4.5
5
5.5
5
5.5
4.5
5
5.5
4.5
5
5.5
4.5
5
5.5
4.5
5.5
4.5
5
5.5
4.5
5
5.5
4.5
5
5.5
4.5
5

50
55
60
50
55
60
55
60
50
60
50
55
60
50
55
60
50
55
50
55
60
55
60
50
55
60
50
55
60
50
60
50
55
50
55
60

5
7.5
10
5
7.5
10
10
5
7.5
7.5
10
5
5
7.5
10
7.5
10
5
10
5
7.5
10
5
7.5
5
7.5
10
7.5
10
5
10
5
7.5
7.5
10
5

2
3.5
5
3.5
5
2
2
3.5
5
2
3.5
5
5
2
3.5
2
3.5
5
5
2
3.5
5
2
3.5
3.5
5
2
3.5
5
2
3.5
5
2
5
2
3.5

0
2.5
5
2.5
5
0
2.5
5
0
5
0
2.5
2.5
5
0
0
2.5
5
5
0
2.5
0
2.5
5
5
0
2.5
0
2.5
5
5
0
2.5
2.5
5
0

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

1.950
2.201
2.786
1.978
2.391
2.674
2.122
2.487
2.393
2.268
2.204
2.531
2.335
2.239
2.433
2.300
2.272
2.435
2.288
2.374
2.653
2.396
2.532
2.346
2.309
2.555
2.348
2.327
2.631
2.316
2.542
2.185
2.485
2.259
2.488
2.656

1.59
1.38
1.17
1.48
1.35
1.22
1.42
1.36
1.24
1.52
1.33
1.21
1.39
1.19
1.42
1.46
1.16
1.48
1.26
1.22
1.37
1.37
1.16
1.32
1.16
1.48
1.125
1.22
1.40
1.21
1.18
1.48
1.24
1.15
1.44
1.29

Table 6
The data obtained from bending test for the two wood plastic material compositions.
Parameters

Instance with
coupling agent

Instance without
coupling agent

Material and physical properties

Wood percent
Plastic percent
Lubricant percent
Coupling agent percent
Real density (kg/m3)
Density for FEM analyses (kg/m3)

68
25
3
4
1102
1142

65
32
3
0
1102
1142

Loading test and FEM analyses results

Maximum load (N)
Elasticity modulus (MPa)
Bending strength (MPa)
Von Mises Stress with FEM (MPa)
Maximum deection (mm)
Maximum deection with FEM (mm)

6617
1270
15.78
17.1
4.71
5.8

4108
929
9.81
11.3
4.00
4.7

Fig. 9 shows the mass variation versus the deection obtained

from 36 analyses. The task of selecting the best instance among
these points is somehow difcult; because in selecting each instance, the objection may arise that there may exist a more desirable state which has not been analyzed. To solve this issue, the
micro-genetic algorithm was employed. Fig. 10 shows the result
of consideration of the possible solution space of a problem with
two properties (in this case, mass and deection). If the goal of
optimization is to minimize both properties, the most desirable instance could be the thick line shown in the diagram, named Pareto
frontier.

Fig. 8. The owchart of micro-genetic algorithm [31].

The necessary data for the algorithm such as type and equation
of the objective functions, size of memory for calculating, number
of iteration and so on were imported in the written software

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E. Soury et al. / Materials and Design 30 (2009) 41834191

Fig. 9. Diagram of the mass variation versus the loading deection.

Fig. 12. Diagram of prole mass versus deection created by micro-genetic
algorithm.

Fig. 10. Diagram of the possible solution space of a problem with two variables
[34].

Fig. 13. Dimensions of the nal optimum prole section.

Fig. 11. Importing the necessary micro-genetic algorithm data in the supplied
software package.

(micro-genetic optimization program) and the interface of which is

shown in Fig. 11. In addition, Fig. 12 presents the output of the processing algorithm after carrying a specic repeat of loop resulting

in a line of the optimum instances. The important note is that all

of the indicated points are presenting an optimum state from
which a point can be selected based on a desired gauge on mass
or deection. In the present case, although the relationship is
monotonic, the optimum point was selected at a point where a
noticeable variation in slope is observed. The reason is that further
increase in deection, as the parameter to be compromised, causes
insignicant decrease in mass. Therefore, this point can be considered as the most favorable one [32]. After decoding this point in the
written software, the nal sectional dimensions were obtained
which are presented in Fig. 13.
To conde the accuracy of the output result of the algorithm, 24
points of the optimum status were also decoded and the respective
models were analyzed. These 24 points are chosen from 100 optimum points of Fig. 12 with equal distance as the representatives.
The mass value of the model at each instance was measured.
Fig. 14 shows the comparison of the deections obtained from
the analysis with those of calculated by micro-genetic algorithm
suggesting a very close agreement. Similar comparison was performed for the mass which is shown in Fig. 15.

E. Soury et al. / Materials and Design 30 (2009) 41834191

4189

Fig. 14. Comparison of the analyzed deection values with those calculated via micro-genetic algorithm.

Fig. 15. Comparison of the analyzed mass values with those calculated via micro-genetic algorithm.

Further verication of the selected optimum point can be performed by dening an objective function. It can be introduced as
following:

w ma  rb

where w is objective function which should be minimized at the

best instance. Also m and r are Mass and Von Mises Stress values
(maximum stress in a constant load), respectively. Furthermore a
and b are the efcacy coefcients of each above parameters that
in this case are arbitrarily assumed to be one. It means that an equal
efcacies of mass and stress for specifying the objective function are
assumed.
When plotting this objective function against the mass for all 24
decoded points, as illustrated in Fig. 16, it is clear that the point
with the minimum value of objective function is the same as the
selected optimum point (in Fig. 12), where the mass is the same

(2.025 kg). Thus, with a high condence, the prole dimensions given in Fig. 13 can be considered as the optimum prole which can
be used to produce the desired pallet.
3.2. Experimentation
After the above design phase, in order to verify the design and
optimization process that is described in this paper, the extrusion
die of the optimum prole was designed and manufactured and
prole was produced utilizing a counter-rotate twin screw extruder with screw diameter of 62.5 mm. Obviously, the experiment
was performed only on the optimum design, otherwise it would
be too expensive.
The experimental material was woodplastic composite with
polypropylene as the polymeric matrix and 65 wt.% wood our of
Russian r as the llers, dry-blended before feeding. Via adjusting

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E. Soury et al. / Materials and Design 30 (2009) 41834191

Fig. 16. plot of objective function mass  stress versus mass.

Fig. 17. The nal produced pallet.

formed. This xture and the bending machine test are shown in
Fig. 18. The results of the tests for two material compositions are
listed in Table 6. After performing the bending tests, the condition
of the tests was modeled in a CAD software and the nite element
analysis was carried. According to Table 6 comparison between the
experimental deection with that of FEM analysis and those of
density (mass), showed a close agreement. The main difference
could be due to the difference in input values for the FEM analysis,
which although selected according to the available relevant data,
as were chosen before design and experimentation.
In order to determine the strength of the nal assembled pallet,
two types of loading conditions were applied: (i) bending and (ii)
distributed smooth restraint. The results showed the load capacities to be greater than 500 kg and 2000 kg, respectively. Also nal
mass of the pallet was less than 20 kg which makes it attractive to
the consumers. Further development is required to promote the
load capacity and also reducing the nal weight in WPC pallet design and production.

4. Conclusion

Fig. 18. The nal produced I-shaped prole under bending loading.

A micro-genetic algorithm was applied for design optimization

of an I-shaped prole of a woodplastic composite used in structural applications such as pallets. The principle purpose was to
reduce the total weight of the nal product while maintaining
the sufcient load capacity. The procedure led to an optimum
design specications which were also analytically veried. The
selected design was used in manufacture of the die and experiment was carried out to produce corresponding WPC prole which
then was mechanically tested. The results can conclude the
followings:

the processing parameters, appropriate output prole was obtained. The temperatures at ve zones (three for the extruder,
one for adaptor, and one for the die) were 190, 220, 220, 215,
and 175 C, respectively. The screw speed was maintained at
15 rpm. The set temperatures and screw rpm prevented the wood
burning that could promote degradations resulting in discolored
surfaces [33]. An image of nal produced pallet is shown in Fig. 17.
To measure the mechanical properties of the prole, a xture
with length of 50 cm was designed and the bending test was per-

Multi objective micro-genetic algorithm is a suitable tool for

optimizing the multi objective problem; here mass and
deection.
The nal selected optimum point was selected as the slope is
sharply changed in the diagram of Massdeection obtained
from the algorithm analysis.
The mechanical tests showed a fair agreement between the
empirical and nite element analysis results.
The produced pallet was found to reasonably exhibit the targeted characteristics: mass and strength.

E. Soury et al. / Materials and Design 30 (2009) 41834191

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