Abstract
This work is concerned with the study of the influence of impactor’s velocity parameters, impactor’s geometry, the target plate properties, and thickness, on the response of a tropical wood plastic composite (WPC) Azobé/urea formaldehyde (Az/UF) plate under impact loading. Variations of the impact force, displacement, deformation, and impact energy of the specimens with weight fractions of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50% have been considered in finite element analysis (FEA) simulations. The simulations of the Charpy and of a drop weight impact test on the WPC were carried out using the explicit dynamics module of ANSYS Workbench, which handles problems of dynamic loading of a short duration for 2D and 3D analyses. Contact laws that account for the compressibility of the interacting bodies (the standard steel impactor and the WPC target plate), have been used. The results show that the displacements decrease in contrast to the increase of the wood filler content, and vary in the 6.8–9.0 mm interval. From an energetic point of view, it is observed that the maximum absorbed energy is between 40 and 50% for the Azobe flour wt.%, with energy absorption rates of 28% and 26% of the total energy. These results are in agreement with those reported in previous experimental investigations on hybrid WPCs filled with wood flour and glass fibers, which produce an energy absorption rate of 24–26%. These results promote the applicability of Azobé tropical wood in fabricating WPCs for impact loading situations.
Highlights
The replacement of organic fibers with plant fillers (PFs) in composite materials presents several advantages, in the field of transportation [1,2]
The reinforcement of the wood plastic composite (WPC) with wood flour is important in absorbing the impact loading
These results are in agreement with the experiments on hybrid WPC made up of glass fibers, where the energy absorption rate ranges from 24–26% [19]
Summary
The replacement of organic fibers with plant fillers (PFs) in composite materials presents several advantages, in the field of transportation [1,2]. Toughness, and tensile properties of wood plastic composite (WPC) have been addressed in numerous research investigations [2,6,7], their response under impact loading is yet to be elucidated. The evaluation of this response would be important in predicting the strength of the WPC structures as well as the dynamic load limits that a structure can withstand. An increase in the fiber content involves more fiber–fiber interactions These interactions have a detrimental effect on most of the mechanical properties if there are fiber agglomerations that cause a stress concentration and that decrease the tensile strength and impact resistance. Small particles are more prone to agglomerate; this increases the amount of non-coated agglomerated filler particles in the composite [11]
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