Filling Behavior of Wood Plastic Composites

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

WPC (wood plastic composites) are a young generation of composites with rapidly growing usage within the plastics industry. The advantages are the availability and low price of the wood particles, the possibility of partially substituting the polymer in the mixture and sustainable use of the earth's resources. The current WPC products on the market are to a large extent limited to extruded products. Nowadays, there is a great interest in the market for consumer products in more use of WPC as an alternative to pure thermoplastics in injection molding processes. This work presents the results of numerical simulation and experimental visualization of the mold filling process in injection molding of WPC. The 3D injection molding simulations were done with the commercial software package Autodesk® Moldflow® Insight 2016 (AMI). The mold filling experiments were conducted with a box-shaped test part. In contrast to unfilled polymers, the WPC has reduced melt elasticity so that the fountain flow often does not develop. This results in irregular flow front shapes in the molded part, especially at high filler content.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1236-1243
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Civil Engineering and Architecture
Volume10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Keywords

  • Wood plastic composites
  • injection molding
  • simulation
  • mold

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