Evaluation and testing of mechanical properties of wood plastic composite

Abstract

The wood plastic composites (WPCs) are made using matrices of recycled polypropylene with sawdust (pine wood flour) as filler. Corresponding WPCs are also made using virgin plastics (vPP, virgin polypropylene) for comparison with the recycled plastic-based composites. All varieties of these WPCs are made through melt compounding and injection molding with varying formulations based on the plastic type (PP, polypropylene), plastic form (recycled and virgin), wood flour content, and addition of maleated polypropylene-coupling agent. The melt flow index and mechanical properties of WPCs are investigated. The results clearly show that recycled PP (rPP) can be successfully used to produce stable and strong WPCs. Properties and performances of WPC made of rPP are comparable to WPC made of wood and vPP. Therefore, WPCs based on both rPP and vPP matrices have potential to be used as construction materials with wood flour.