Thermal Properties and the high Throughput of Extruded WPC

In this study thermal properties of Woofd Plastic Composite (WPC) were measured using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetry (TG). The investigated specimens were: high density polyethylene (HDPE), wood particle and WPC. DSC test showed that adding wood particle to HDPE matrix cause a decrease in the area under the DSC curve. The result revealed that WPC have a heat of fusion less than unfilled HDPE and are more stable when temperature increases. The melting point temperature did not changed significantly. The heat of capacity of HDPE, wood particle and WPC were obtained using DSC test. An enhancement in the temperature led to a linear increase in the heat of capacity of wood particle. HDPE and WPC showed similar behavior too. But WPC specimen had a heat of capacity more than wood particle and less than HDPE. The heat capacity of WPC by rule of mixture has a good agreement to experimental results. Adding wood to plastic identify higher WPC thermal stability by TG. The extrusion process was modeled and the throughput temperature was calculated using themal equation. The model was used to carry out high throughput by incresing screw speed. These help to produce defectless extruded WPC in continous production.