×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

How to restrain two plastic sheets in tension

How to restrain two plastic sheets in tension

How to restrain two plastic sheets in tension

(OP)
I'm working on a military protective structure and need to restrain two sheets of plastic (5mm and shaped) 300mm apart. The void in between will be filled with earth/sand to provide protection against a particular threat. The external side of the plastic sheet cannot have anything protruding to any significant distance and I need to find something that will hold them in position and resist the outward pressure exerted by the fill.

Does anyone have any ideas? Obviously I could use threaded bar with nut and large washe, but this would stick out too far and would mean personnel would snag themselves often.

Hopefully this is clear enough, but if not let me know and I'll try to produce an image.

Cheers.

RE: How to restrain two plastic sheets in tension

Hi e709

What about a countersunk rivet head on one side and peen the other end of the rivet into a countersunk recess, obviously you would need some kind of spacer inbetween the sheets.

desertfox

 

RE: How to restrain two plastic sheets in tension

(OP)
Thanks for the quick relies guys.

Desertfox - I'm afraid you lost me, I'm not familiar with terminology you use. I do however understand the need for a spacer.

Irstuff - the sign I'm working on is a protective structure which the end user would erect to protect themselves. I'd really like to achieve an 'ikea' type build in which the builder couldn't get anything wrong and am therefore looking for simple snap fit connector. I'm sure that there's something outer there that does this, but it's just a case of find it. If not we may have to look at get one manufactured.

For now: I'm going to look into plastic rivet manufacturers and see if they can help.

Thanks again.

RE: How to restrain two plastic sheets in tension

Use similar plastic sheet material bonded or welded between the to face sheets to form vertical baffles or webs. These baffles would lay flat with the face sheets for transport.

RE: How to restrain two plastic sheets in tension

I'm thinking paired 4mm holes on 150mm centers, with a 610mm loop of lacing tape through the facing pairs, holding the faces together similar to the way a mattress is tufted.  Bond face sheets on three edges, and fill through the fourth.  Unfilled, the major faces would be loosely tied to each other, but only a little awkward to handle.



 

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: How to restrain two plastic sheets in tension

Do you have to use sheet plastic? Sounds like your trying to reinvent a small version of the hesco barrier

RE: How to restrain two plastic sheets in tension

If you have enough of a budget you can probably have  the material extruded with the faces 300MM apart and have the internal ribbing to support the wall section as part of the extrusion. This way you have no fastners of external protrusions.

Hope this helps

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources