Industrial forklifts consist of one of the most common handling methods for pallets in warehouses and distribution centers. Pallets deflect while they are being transported by forklifts due to the weight of the unit load. Thus, most of the deflection is observed to occur on the outside edges and corners of the pallet. Several international standards are used in order to define the maximum deflection for pallet bending, including ISO 8611 and ASTM D1185. However, there is still a lack of understanding on the accuracy of these deflection limits and the exact performance of a pallet during a forklift support condition. Understanding pallet bending during forklift support condition and how it affects the stability of a unit load helps create an industry accepted deflection limit that will help to design safer and more cost-effective pallets. For this study, two chapters were proposed in order to assess pallet deflection and unit load stability. The first chapter consisted of measuring and analyzing the vibration levels for three different industrial forklifts affect by factors such as the speed, the payload of the unit load carried, sensor location, forklift type, and road conditions. The results obtained showed that the highest vibration intensity occurred at 3-4 Hz, while the highest overall Grms value observed was 0.145 G2/Hz (between 1-200 Hz). An increase in the forklift speed caused an increase in vibration intensity. In contrast, an increase in the unit load weight carried by the forklift caused a decrease in vibration intensity. Among the three forklifts studied, the gas-powered forklift had the highest vibration intensity, and all forklifts, when driven on asphalt, experienced more vibration. The second chapter of the research project consisted of evaluating pallet deflection under forklift handling conditions. These conditions included fork tines configuration (leveled and 4° angle), unit load condition (bound and unbound), pallet orientation (across width and across length), and type of handling condition (static and dynamic). The results showed that when unit loads were handled in a static condition, they survived the throughout the entire testing. However, when they were tested under a dynamic condition, and specifically, with the unbound unit loads, they did not survive the entire testing. Moreover, unit loads that were tested with the 4° angle forktines configuration tended to survive longer during the dynamic testing. For this particular case, the unit load capacity obtained based on the ISO 8611 standard was too conservative. / M.S. / Forklifts play an important role in the transportation of materials goods in the supply chain. Pallets experience vibration when they are handled by industrial forklifts. This vibration plus the combined effects mainly due to the unit load weight affects the amount that pallets bend. Thus, depending on the amount of pallet bending, they can produce unit load instability. Currently, there is a lack of understanding of how much pallet bending is acceptable. Therefore, the goal of this research was to understand the behavior of pallet bending when they are handled under forklift conditions. Two experiments were conducted in order to study pallet deflection under forklift handling conditions. The first experiment, which consisted in analyzing forklift vibration, showed that an increase in the forklift speed caused an increase in vibration intensity. In contrast, an increase in the payload of the unit load resulted in a decrease in vibration intensity. Among the three forklifts studied, the gas-powered forklift showed the highest vibration intensity. Forklifts driven on asphalt experienced more vibration in comparison to the ones driven on concrete. The second experiment, which consisted in assessing pallet deflection under a simulated forklift handling condition, showed that unit loads under a dynamic environment (vibration) increased the probability of unit load instability. Furthermore, it was observed that applying stretch wrap to a unit load decreased its instability and at the same time increases its survivability. Also, the results showed that the proposed ISO 8611 deflection limit is too conservative for this particular handling condition.

The Vertically Oriented Interlocking Timber (VOIT) panel is a new solid wood panel similar to Interlocking Cross Laminated Timber (ICLT) and the more commonly known Cross Laminated Timber (CLT). Like ICLT, VOIT panels use timber connections instead of the adhesives or metal fasteners common to CLT. The difference of VOIT is the orientation of the layers. Where CLT and ICLT panels alternate the orientation of each layer, VOIT panels orient all the layers in the same direction. The vertically oriented layers are then attached to one another by smaller horizontal dovetail members.Two types of VOIT panels were provided to be tested for in-plane lateral loading. Type I had three rows of horizontal dovetail members connecting the layers and Type II had four rows of dovetail members as well as two diagonal members to provide stiffness. Two panels of each type were provided, measuring 8 ft. wide, 8 ft. tall, and 13.75 in. thick. Each panel was disassembled after monotonic lateral in-plane loading to determine possible failure modes. Testing results suggest the VOIT panels to be comparable in shear strength to other wood shear walls, including light frame, CLT, and ICLT walls. A two-part analytical model was created to determine the deflection of the wall when loaded as well as the shear strength of the wall. The model predicted deflection and wall strength reasonably well. Due to the small sample size, additional testing is necessary to confirm the results of the Type I and Type II VOIT panels. Additional testing with more variations of the panel and member geometries is also needed to validate the scope of the model.