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In the present research, wood flour reinforced polyethylene polymer composites with a coupling agent were prepared by injection molding. The effects of wood flour size, aspect ratios, and mold injection temperature on the composites' mechanical properties were investigated. For the preparation of the polymer composites, five different formulations were created. The mechanical properties including tensile strength and the modulus, flexural strength and the modulus, and impact energy were measured. To investigate the changes in the properties resulting from different compositions, mechanical static and impact testing was performed. The obtained results indicate that by reducing the flour size, the tensile strength and modulus, flexural strength, and impact energy were reduced. In contrast, the flexural modulus increased. Furthermore, with the increment of injection molding temperature, the tensile strength and the modulus and the impact energy of the specimens were reduced. On the other hand, the flexural strength and the modulus increased. Thus, an optimized amount of injection molding temperature can provide improvements in the mechanical properties of the composite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effect of wood powder and nanoclay particle content on composites' mechanical behavior made with polyethylene matrix has been investigated. The wood flour as a reinforcer made of wood powder was at levels of 30, 40, and 50 wt.%, and additional reinforcement with nanoclay at 0, 1, 3, and 5 wt.%. Furthermore, to make a composite matrix, high-density polyethylene was used at levels of 70, 60, and 50% by weight. Wood-plastic composite (WPC) specimens were manufactured in injection molding. After preparing the specimens, tensile and bending tests were performed on samples. The mechanical properties such as tensile and flexural strength and flexural modulus were measured. Results showed that nanoclay particle content increases flexural modulus, flexural strength, modulus of elasticity, and tensile strength. The experimental test results show that Young's moduli increased with the volume of wood flour. The biggest modulus of elasticity was achieved in the samples having 50 wt.% of wood powder. Furthermore, the highest value of tensile strength was achieved at the level of 30 wt.%. The highest flexural strength was for the sample containing 50% wood powder by weight. Additionally, a numerical model was made utilizing the Abaqus software using the finite element method (FEM). Comparing the numerical and experimental results, it was found that they are compatible in the linear-elastic and plastic state of the material. There are no crucial differences between experiment and FEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]