Abstract
The wood industry can expand into new sustainable markets with the formation of a new class of composites with the marriage of the wood industry and the plastics industry. The wood component, usually a flour or fiber, is combined with a thermoplastic to form an extrudable, injectable or thermoformable composite that can be used in many non-structural applications.
Keywords
Wood-plastic composites,
thermoplastic composites,
extrusion process,
injection molding of plastics,
composite materials,
moisture,
wood flour,
fiber-reinforced plastics,
fibrous composites,
cellulose fibers,
plant fibers,
fibers,
forest products industry,
economic aspects,
forest products,
sustainable forestry,
mechanical properties,
weathering,
thermal properties,
marketing,
market surveys,
wood-plastic materials
Citation
Caulfield, Daniel F.; Clemons, Craig; Rowell, Roger M. 2010. Wood thermoplastic composites. Sustainable development in the forest products industry, Chapter 6. Porto, Portugal : Universidade Fernando Pessoa, 2010: p. 141-161: ISBN: 9789896430528.