scholarly journals Testing and Assessing Method for the Resistance of Wood-Plastic Composites to the Action of Destroying Fungi

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 697
Author(s):  
Anna Wiejak ◽  
Barbara Francke

Durability tests against fungi action for wood-plastic composites are carried out in accordance with European standard ENV 12038, but the authors of the manuscript try to prove that the assessment of the results done according to these methods is imprecise and suffers from a significant error. Fungi exposure is always accompanied by high humidity, so the result of tests made by such method is always burdened with the influence of moisture, which can lead to a wrong assessment of the negative effects of action fungus itself. The manuscript has shown a modification of such a method that separates the destructive effect of fungi from moisture accompanying the test’s destructive effect. The functional properties selected to prove the proposed modification are changes in the mass and bending strength after subsequent environmental exposure. It was found that intensive action of moisture measured in the culture chamber of about (70 ± 5)%, i.e., for 16 weeks, at (22 ± 2) °C, which was the fungi culture, which was accompanying period, led to changes in the mass of the wood-plastic composites, amounting to 50% of the final result of the fungi resistance test, and changes in the bending strength amounting to 30–46% of the final test result. As a result of the research, the correction for assessing the durability of wood-polymer composites to biological corrosion has been proposed. The laboratory tests were compared with the products’ test results following three years of exposure to the natural environment.

BioResources ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 3930-3944
Author(s):  
Xiaohong Hu ◽  
Dongfang Li ◽  
Bin Luo ◽  
Li Li

Poplar wood flour wood-plastic composites (WPCs) prepared with high-density polyethylene and modified with different amounts of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) were created. The influence of EVA content on the surface properties and weathering characteristics after ultraviolet (UV) treatment was investigated. The results showed that WPCs treated with EVA had improved thermal stability, and the surface polarity was reduced. The addition of EVA slowed the fading of the WPCs, and the color difference was the smallest when the EVA content was 5%. Both the bending strength and the modulus of elasticity (MOE) of the WPCs decreased after the UV treatment. However, when the EVA content was 5%, the bending strength retention ratio and MOE retention ratio were greatest. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the addition of EVA reduced the amount of pores and gaps on the fractured surfaces of the WPCs. The comprehensive performance of the WPC anti-weathering properties was greatest when the EVA level was 5%.


2011 ◽  
Vol 311-313 ◽  
pp. 72-75
Author(s):  
Ji Wu Li ◽  
Dong Feng Zhu ◽  
Yong Gui Wu

In this study, wood plastic composites (WPC) material were fabricated with wood flour and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). To improve the interfacial compatibility between the wood flour and the PVC, silane method (SM) and tianate method(TM) were used to treat the wood flour, maleic anhydride copolymerized PVC with dicumyl peroxide. The effects of wood flour content, surface treatment on the mechanical properties of WPC materials were investigated. Fracture surfaces of tests specimens were analysis by SEM. Test results indicate that WPC material with wood flour treated by SM or TM together with PVC copolymerized showed good mechanical properties.


Author(s):  
Yunhe Zhang ◽  
Jing Fang ◽  
Jian Li ◽  
Yanling Guo ◽  
Qingwen Wang

A new type of low cost, environmentally friendly wood-plastic composites (WPC) containing carbon nanotubes(CNT)of low content 0%, 0.05wt%, 0.1wt% and 0.15wt%, wood fibers of 14wt% and polymer PES of 86wt% was manufactured by the selective laser sintering (SLS) approach of 3D printing. The experimental results showed that the incorporating of CNTs could obviously increase the mechanical properties of the wood/PES composites material. The tensile strength, bending strength and elasticity modulus were 76.3%, 227.9% and 128.7% higher with 0.1wt% CNTs than without CNTs. And the mechanical properties of specimens firstly increased and then decreased with the increasing contents of CNTs. The SEM results of the specimens’ fracture morphology indicated that the preferable bonding interfaces between wood flour grains and PES grains were achieved by adding CNTs to the composites. There are two reasons to explain why the composites possessed the superior mechanical properties: CNTs could facilitate the laser sintering process of wood plastic composites due to their thermal conductivities; also, CNTs could directly reinforce the WPC composites as reinforcement.


TAPPI Journal ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 51-60
Author(s):  
DENNIS VOSS ◽  
HANS-JOACHIM PUTZ ◽  
SAMUEL SCHABEL

The need for deinking mills to reduce their fresh water consumption has resulted in higher loads of various contaminants in the process water. Lower recovered paper quality also leads to higher contamination levels in the mills. This higher load has an influence on achievable target brightness. The objective of the work was to determine and explain the main reasons for relatively poor deinked pulp quality or poor deinking potential based on the influence of recovered paper composition and process water quality. The process water parameters significantly affect the deinking potential of recovered paper. The test results showed the negative effects of increased water hardness. For standard recovered paper mixtures, flotation selectivity is higher with increasing flotation pH-value. Good results were realized for standard recovered paper with low hardness, low surface tension, and high pH-value. The results for recovered paper containing flexo newsprint could be slightly improved with low hardness, low surface tension, and low pH-value. The results of the test program using design of experiments showed interacting effects of pH-value and surface tension on luminosity and flotation selectivity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Sergej Medved ◽  
Daša Krapež Tomec ◽  
Angela Balzano ◽  
Maks Merela

Since invasive alien species are one of the main causes of biodiversity loss in the region and thus of changes in ecosystem services, it is important to find the best possible solution for their removal from nature and the best practice for their usability. The aim of the study was to investigate their properties as components of wood-plastic composites and to investigate the properties of the wood-plastic composites produced. The overall objective was to test the potential of available alien plant species as raw material for the manufacture of products. This would contribute to sustainability and give them a better chance of ending their life cycle. One of the possible solutions on a large scale is to use alien wood species for the production of wood plastic composites (WPC). Five invasive alien hardwood species have been used in combination with polyethylene powder (PE) and maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene (MAPE) to produce various flat pressed WPC boards. Microstructural analyses (confocal laser scanning microscopy and scanning electron microscopy) and mechanical tests (flexural strength, tensile strength) were performed. Furthermore, measurements of density, thickness swelling, water absorption and dimensional stability during heating and cooling were carried out. Comparisons were made between the properties of six WPC boards (five alien wood species and mixed boards). The results showed that the differences between different invasive alien wood species were less obvious in mechanical properties, while the differences in sorption properties and dimensional stability were more significant. The analyses of the WPC structure showed a good penetration of the polymer into the lumens of the wood cells and a fine internal structure without voids. These are crucial conditions to obtain a good, mechanically strong and water-resistant material.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 417
Author(s):  
Xingcong Lv ◽  
Xiaolong Hao ◽  
Rongxian Ou ◽  
Tao Liu ◽  
Chuigen Guo ◽  
...  

The rheological properties of wood–plastic composites (WPCs) with different wood fiber contents were investigated using a rotational rheometer under low shear rates. The flow field information was analyzed and simulated by Ansys Polyflow software. The results showed that the WPCs with different wood fiber contents behaved as typical power-law fluids. A higher wood fiber content increased the shear thinning ability and pseudoplasticity of the WPCs. The pressure, velocity, shear rate, and viscosity distributions of the WPC during extrusion could be predicted by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) Ansys Polyflow software to explore the effects of different components on the flow field of WPCs.


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