Screw withdrawal resistance and surface roughness of woven carbon and glass fiber-reinforced wood-plastic composites

Abstract

Wood-plastic composites (WPCs) have become one of the most remarkable materials for construction in recent years. Along with high resistance against biological threats, the high mechanical properties are also desired from WPCs as well. In this study, polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (HDPE) based flat-pressed WPC specimens were reinforced with woven fiber fabric to gain higher mechanical properties. Woven fabrics were located 20% (w/w) below for both surfaces. Carbon fiber and glass fiber woven fabrics, known to have high mechanical properties, were preferred to improve screw withdrawal resistance (SWR) of WPC. Specimens were produced with different wood flour contents (40, 50, and 60%). Results indicated that the increase of SWR reached up to 83%. The highest increase was obtained from carbon fiber for PP, while it was glass fiber for HDPE fabric. The coupling agents had a positive effect on SWR. This study also showed that PE based WPCs had higher SWR compared to PP based ones. Moreover, as wood flour content increased, SWR decreased. The surface roughness of WPCs was also investigated. Contrary to SWR, the wood flour content positively affected the surface roughness; i.e., as wood content increased, surface roughness of WPCs increased. The structure of specimens were also examined using SEM.