RESEARCH PLAN

A. Questions or Problem Being Addressed

Does the variation on the ratio of Perna viridis shells and rubber latex affect the
durability of the produced safety shoe outsole?

B. Goals / Expected Outcome / Hypotheses

Goals / Expected Outcome

1. To determine and compare the shore hardness of the material and the control group.
2. To determine and compare the tensile strength of the material and the control group.
3. To determine and compare the abrasion resistance of the material and the control
group.
4. To determine the correlation between the ratio of the mixture and the shore hardness,
tensile strength, and abrasion resistance of the material.
5. To compare the shore hardness, tensile strength, and abrasion resistance of the
material and the other commercial outsoles.

Hypotheses
1. The material will have greater shore hardness tensile strength and abrasion resistance
than the other commercial outsoles.
2. There will be a significant difference between the shore hardness of the control group
and the shore hardness of the outsoles treated with Perna viridis

3. There will be a significant difference between the tensile strength of the control group
and the tensile strength of the outsoles treated with Perna viridis.
4. There will be a significant difference between the abrasion resistance of the control
group and the abrasion resistance of the outsoles treated with Perna viridis.
5. There will be a significant increase of the aforementioned aspects of durability with
the increasing amount of Perna viridis shells.

C. Methods / Procedure
a) Preparation of Perna viridis powder
6 kilograms of Perna viridis shells will be gathered and cleaned thoroughly. It
will be then heated to a temperature of 120 C. The Perna viridis shells will be
crushed thoroughly such that the fragments were about one-fifth the size of the
original shells. The crushed shells will be then put in a ball mill for grinding.
After grinding, the powder will be filtered with a 6-micrometer sieve. The
remaining powder will then be grinded again in the ball mill. The process will be
repeated until 6 kilograms of powdered Perna viridis is acquired.
b) Preparation of setups and samples
Five setups will be prepared for the samples. 1500 g of Hevea brasiliensis will be
added to each setup. Setup A, which will be the negative control, contained pure
rubber latex. Setup B will be added with 300 g of Perna viridis. Setup C will be
added with 600 g of Perna viridis. Setup D will be added with 900 g of Perna
viridis. Setup E will be added with 1200 g of Perna viridis. Setup F will be added

with 1500 g of Perna viridis. The shell powder (Perna viridis) will then be given
to Uniworld Global Tech MPG. Corp. to process the shell powder.
c) Testing of Samples
For tensile strength, three samples from each setup and three samples from each
of the different outsoles will be subject under a UTM from the Uniworld Global
Tech Corp. that determined the tensile strength of each sample. After the test, data
will be gathered and analyzed. For shore hardness, three samples from each setup
and three samples from each of the different outsoles will be subject under a
Shore A durometer from the Uniworld Global Tech Corp. that determined the
shore hardness of each sample. After the test, data will be gathered and analyzed.
For abrasion resistance, three samples from each setup and three samples from
each of the different outsoles will be subject under a DIN from the Uniworld
Global Tech Corp. that determined the abrasion resistance of each sample. After
the test, data will be gathered and analyzed.

D. Bibliography
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Al-Mosawi, A. I. (2013). Effect of Shells Powder Filler Additives on Hardness and Tensile
Strength Properties of Natural Rubber. Journal of Materials Physics and Chemistry, 3536.

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Mason, T. O. (n.d.). Ceramic Composition and Properties. Retrieved from Encyclopaedia
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Power, A., Walker, R., Payne, K., & Hurley, D. (2004). First occurence of the nonindigenous
green mussel, Perna viridis in coastal Georgia, United States. In Journal of Shellfish
Research (pp. 741-744).
The Rubber Tree: Rubber Board. (2002). Retrieved June 19, 2014, from Rubber Board:
http://rubberboard.org.in/ManageCultivation.asp?Id=3
Vanderbilt Chemicals, LLC. (2008). Technical Documents. Retrieved from Vanderbilt
Chemicals.
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