scholarly journals The effect of micron sized wood fibers in wood plastic composites

Author(s):  
Lance W Gallagher ◽  
Armando G McDonald
2016 ◽  
Vol 721 ◽  
pp. 8-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgars Kuka ◽  
Dace Cirule ◽  
Janis Kajaks ◽  
Anna Janberga ◽  
Ingeborga Andersone ◽  
...  

Wood plastic composites (WPC) are mainly used as an outdoor material, so durability against fungal decay is one of the factors that should be analyzed and if necessary improved. WPC are susceptible to biodegradation, although these materials have limited water absorption because of the wood fiber encapsulation in polymer matrix. In the study two different water pretreatment methods (short-term and long-term) were used to ensure appropriate water content for fungal growth. Also in the paper thermally modified wood (different regimes) fiber influence on WPC fungal resistance is investigated. The results showed that long-term water pretreated WPC specimens had more suitable conditions for fungal degradation that led to higher weight loss. The results which were related to thermally modified wood fibers showed, that WPC with thermally modified wood fibers had improved resistance against fungi. Thermal modification regimes had an effect on WPC durability as well.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 329
Author(s):  
Sumit Manohar Yadav ◽  
Muhammad Adly Rahandi Lubis ◽  
Kapil Sihag

This review deals with recent works on the process and technological aspects of wood-plastic composites (WPCs) manufacturing.The term WPCs relates to any composites that contain plant (including wood and non-wood) fibers and thermosets or thermoplastics. Recent progress relevant to wood-plastic composites has been cited in this review. This articleintended to outline the results presented on wood-plastic composites focusing on process and technological aspects such as raw materials, fabrication, mechanical, physical, thermal, and morphological properties. The manufacturing process of WPCs is an important aspect of WPCs production. Manufacturing methods like compression molding and pultrusion have some limitations. Extrusion and injection molding are the most widely used manufacturing processes in WPCs due to their effectiveness. Recent developments dealing with WPCs and the use of different kinds of nanofillers in WPCs have also been presented and discussed. Nanoclays are widely used as nanofillers in WPCs because they represent an eco-friendly, readily available in large quantity, and inexpensive filler. WPCs are finding applications in many fields ranging from the construction to the automotive industry.Keywords: additive manufacturing, adhesion, fabrication techniques, mechanical and physical properties, wood-plastic composites


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 2681
Author(s):  
Ke-Chang Hung ◽  
Wen-Chao Chang ◽  
Jin-Wei Xu ◽  
Tung-Lin Wu ◽  
Jyh-Horng Wu

The purpose of this study is to compare the characteristics of wood–plastic composites (WPCs) made of polypropylene (PP) and wood fibers (WFs) from discarded stems, branches, and roots of pomelo trees. The results show that the WPCs made of 30–60 mesh WFs from stems have better physical, flexural, and tensile properties than other WPCs. However, the flexural strengths of all WPCs are not only comparable to those of commercial wood–PP composites but also meet the strength requirements of the Chinese National Standard for exterior WPCs. In addition, the color change of WPCs that contained branch WFs was lower than that of WPCs that contained stem or root WFs during the initial stage of the accelerated weathering test, but the surface color parameters of all WPCs were very similar after 500 h of xenon arc accelerated weathering. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs showed many cracks on the surfaces of WPCs after accelerated weathering for 500 h, but their flexural modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) values did not differ significantly during weathering. Thus, all the discarded parts of pomelo trees can be used to manufacture WPCs, and there were no significant differences in their weathering properties during 500 h of xenon arc accelerated weathering.


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.


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.


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.


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