Mechanical Property Characterization of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Wood-Polypropylene Composite Panels Manufactured Using a Double Belt Pressing Technology
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 24, Issue 9
Abstract
A novel manufacturing process for wood-polypropylene composite (WPC) panels reinforced with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets was implemented using a double belt pressing technology. FRP sheets were placed on both sides of the WPC agglomerates during fabrication, which resulted in increased productivity and reduced thermal stresses compared with secondary bonding processes. Significant improvements in the mechanical properties of the FRP reinforced sheet panels were found during flexural and tensile tests on the coupon level. Even with addition of only one layer of FRP reinforcement on both sides of a WPC panel, the flexural modulus and strength increased by a factor of 2.6 and 3.8, respectively. Furthermore, the flexural and tensile properties of the WPC material considered in this study were found to be superior compared with the properties of an extruded WPC material. The changes in the flexural modulus of the FRP reinforced WPC panels with respect to the number of FRP layers were predicted using a model based on moment-curvature analysis.
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Acknowledgments
This research project was carried out under Contract no. DTFH61-06-D-00022. The authors are grateful to the United States Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for the financial support.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 24 • Issue 9 • September 2012
Pages: 1193 - 1200
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 20, 2011
Accepted: Jan 25, 2012
Published online: Jan 28, 2012
Published in print: Sep 1, 2012
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