During compounding of wood plastic composites (WPC) there is a need for high shear mixing to ensure a good dispersion of the fibres in the thermoplastic matrix, however, a too extensive mixing will result in fibre damage and thus will reduce the reinforcing capability of the fibres. A well dispersed fibre component with low fibre damage could enhance the mechanical properties of the final WPC product. In this study two vastly different compounding technologies were used to assess possible differences in the mixing results. The equipments used were two laboratory sized equipments, one co-rotating twin screw extruder and one batch type mixer.
The material used was thermo-mechanical pulp fibres, HDPE matrix and a MAPE coupling agent. The fibre content was 40% by weight. The compounds were extracted from its matrix material to free the fibres for further analysis. The fibres were analysed before and after the processing procedures in order to determine degree of fibre damage during the process and average fibre length. This paper will present initial findings of the study.
Keywords: compounding, extraction, fibre, wood plastic composite
Authors
Frisk O.
Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, SWEDEN
Segerholm B.K.
Sustainable Built Environment, SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Stockholm, SWEDEN
Wålinder M.E.P.
Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, SWEDEN
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