Abstract
Abstract Plastic lumber and thermoplastic composites are sold as alternatives to wood products. However, many technical standards and scientific studies state that the two materials cannot be considered to have the same structural behaviour and strength. Moreover, there are many compositions of thermoplastic-based products and plenty of wood species. How different are their mechanical properties? This study compares the modulus of elasticity and the flexural, compressive, tensile and shear strengths of such materials, as well as the materials' specific mechanical properties. It analyses the properties of wood from the coniferae and dicotyledon species and those of commercialized and experimental thermoplastic-based product formulations. The data were collected from books, scientific papers and manufacturers' websites and technical data sheets, and subsequently compiled and presented in Ashby plots and bar graphs. The high values of the compressive strength and specific compressive and tensile strengths perpendicular to the grain (width direction) shown by the experimental thermoplastic composites compared to wood reveal their great potential for use in compressed elements and in functions where components are compressed or tensioned perpendicularly to the grain. However, the low specific flexural modulus and high density of thermoplastic materials limit their usage in certain civil engineering and building applications.
Highlights
The product commercially known as plastic lumber can be exclusively made of plastics or can be a plastic composite (CARROLL et al, 2001)
The highest values of the modulus of elasticity among the thermoplastic products were found in PP, high-density polyethylene (HDPE)- and PVC-based composites, and all are in the same region, between 5000 MPa and 9000 MPa, as the wood species’ lowest values (Figure 1)
Due to its better durability and maintainability, plastic lumber could be an alternative to wood lumber under such mechanical situations
Summary
The product commercially known as plastic lumber can be exclusively made of plastics or can be a plastic composite (CARROLL et al, 2001). In both cases, it is manufactured with the dimensions (BOLIN; SMITH, 2011; BAJRACHARYA et al, 2014) of and for similar uses as wood lumber (CARROLL et al, 2001; BENTHIEN; THOEMEN, 2012; BAJRACHARYA et al, 2014). There is a trend to continued market growth of plastic lumber and wood-plastic composites (a type of plastic composite produced with wood particles as filler), both in North America and in Europe (BOWYER et al, 2010). In 2010 and 2012, the European, North American and South American production reached 220 and 260, 900 and 1100, and 10 and 20 thousand tonnes, respectively (CARUS et al, 2014)
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