Mechanical properties of an extruded wood plastic composite

The focus of this study has been to fully describe the mechanical properties and behaviour of an extruded Wood Plastic Composite product. The use of plasturgy technologies for the elaboration of lignocellulose reinforced composites raises fundamental questions about the behaviour of these materials. Mechanical properties of a composite depend generally on fibre content, fibre/matrix interface link or added coupling agents. Processes play an important role on the reinforcement distribution in the matrix. The main purpose of this paper is to describe mechanical behaviour of WPC composites which are manufactured using an extrusion process. So, complete set of experiments has been realised: tensile, compressive, bending and shear tests. Longitudinal direction refers to extrusion process directional flow and transverse direction specimens have been tested. Mechanical performances of Wood Plastic Composites depend also on the link of fibre/matrix interface, fracture surface has been analysed using an optical microscope.