Vigilancia tecnológica

The thermal and mechanical properties of recycled polypropylene (rPP) and rubberwood flour (RWF) composites were investigated. The dead-load creep test was conducted to predict the lifetime of wood-plastic composites material. The composite pellets and specimens were produced by single-screw extruder and compression molding machine. The result showed that the thermogravimetric analysis displayed the decomposition of the composites occurred at two peaks, corresponding to the temperatures at which the RWF and rPP degraded. Additionally, the mechanical properties were measured to assess the wood-plastic composites performance. For creep test, the six-element Burger model was found to provide the best fit among others. The load levels 20, 30, and 40% of the ultimate flexural strength for the predicted lifetimes of composites exceed 10 years gave for 0.75, 1.30, and 1.75 strain. The experimental results support using the plastic as recycled and reinforcement application of naturally sourced in composite materials.