Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Fracture Behavior of Extruded Wood-Plastic Composites under Bending.

The ability of wood-plastic composites (WPCs) to withstand various loads and resist plastic failure is attracting more and more interest due to the global increase in demand for WPCs by over 6 million tons per year. Among the most important and innovative research methods are those based on fracture mechanics-their results enable material designers to optimize the structures of these hybrid polymer composites at the nano, micro and macro levels, and they allow engineers to more accurately evaluate and select functional, sustainable, long-lasting and safe product designs. In this study, standard single-edge notched bending (SENB) tests were used to analyze the fracture toughness of two different extruded WPCs along the longitudinal (L) and transverse (T) directions of extrusion.