Effects of Lubricant Content on Extrusion

Processing and Mechanical Properties

of Wood Flour–High-density
Polyethylene Composites

KAMAL B. ADHIKARY* AND CHUL B. PARK

Microcellular Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory, Department of Mechanical
and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King’s College Road
Toronto M5S 3G8, Canada

M. R. ISLAM AND GHAUS M. Rizvi

Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Ontario Institute of
Technology, Oshawa L1H 7K4, Canada

ABSTRACT: Wood plastic composite (WPC) development has been facilitated by

the economical extrusion of WPC profiles for various applications. The physical and
mechanical properties of WPC products can be optimized by regulating extrusion
processing conditions and material formulations. Rectangular WPC profiles were
produced with varied high-density polyethylene (HDPE), wood fiber (WF), and
lubricant contents under different extrusion conditions in a twin-screw extruder
extrusion line. Optimal tensile and flexural properties were obtained with 50 wt%
WF at 7 and 3 wt% lubricant and maleated polyethylene (MAPE) contents. The
apparent shear viscosity of the WPC melts decreased gradually with increased
lubricant content. Hence, for practical applications, a combination of HDPE grade,
WF, lubricant, and MAPE contents can provide the benefits of lower shear viscosity
while maintaining the mechanical properties and surface smoothness of WPC
profiles.

KEY WORDS: wood plastic composite, high-density polyethylene, profile

extrusion, morphology, rheology, mechanical properties.

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

E-mail: kamal@mie.utoronto.ca; kamalba2002@yahoo.com
Figures 1–7 appear in color online http://jtc.sagepub.com

Journal of THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITE MATERIALS, Vol. 24—March 2011 155

0892-7057/11/02 0155–17 $10.00/0 DOI: 10.1177/0892705710388590
ß The Author(s), 2010. Reprints and permissions:
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156 K. B. ADHIKARY ET AL.

INTRODUCTION

URING THE LAST few decades, the use of wood plastic composite
D (WPC) in residential and industrial applications has grown dramati-
cally for several reasons. This growth has been driven by the fact that
compared to inorganic fillers wood fillers possessed lower density, greater
biodegradability and recyclability, less abrasive to processing equipment
and, lesser cost [1]. Much successful research has been done on their
physical and mechanical properties [1–3], morphology [4,5], rheological
properties [6,7], and durability [8,9]. In addition, the effect of different
coupling agents on these properties has been studied [3–5,10]. It was
reported that wood fiber (WF) content may be as high as 70 wt% in
commercial WPC products [7]. However, high WF content leads to
difficulty in extrusion processing due to the high melt viscosity of wood–
plastic (WP) blends [6,11–13], which ultimately affects the surface quality
and mechanical properties of extrudate WPC products [7,14–16].
Alternatively, the melt viscosity of WP blends during extrusion can be
reduced by increasing processing temperatures or by using processing
additives, such as compatibilizer and lubricants, in the composite
formulations. The use of higher processing temperatures to overcome the
high melt viscosity of WP blends, however, is limited by the thermal
degradation temperature of WF (2008C). Processing around the thermal
degradation temperature of WF results in an overall decrease in WPC
mechanical properties [14]. Alternatively, the addition of coupling agents
and lubricants has been shown to improve extrusion processing and the
mechanical properties of WPC products [4–6,17,18]. Lubricant is used to
improve the melt homogenization, viscosity, surface quality, and extruder
output during WPC processing. Internal lubricants decrease melt viscosity
while external lubricants facilitate slip at the walls between the WP melts
and the extruder. Because of its low molecular weight, a maleated
polyethylene (MAPE) coupling agent also tends to decrease the overall WP
melt viscosity at lower shear rates, thereby acting as an internal lubricant
[6]. Hence, both coupling agent and lubricant promote WPC processing.
The coupling agent improved compatibility between the WF and the
polymer, whereas lubricants increased wettability and produced wall-
slipping with polymer compounds.
Material compositions, such as WF particle size and content, coupling
agent, and lubricant types and contents in WPCs influence their
mechanical and rheological properties [6,11,12,17]. Using capillary
rheometry, Li and Wolcott [6] studied the rheology of high-density
polyethylene (HDPE)/maple flour/MAPE/lubricant composite with varied
WF content and particle size. It was reported that WF content, rather than

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Effects of Lubricant Content and Mechanical Properties 157

WF particle size, changed the melt viscosity significantly, and ester type
lubricant performed as an excellent external lubrication. Li et al. [17]
studied the effect of WF and internal lubricant contents on the rheological
properties of WF/polypropylene (PP) composites using a torque
rheometer. They reported that internal lubricant was effective in reducing
the apparent viscosity, which tends to increase with higher WF loadings.
It was found that the addition of internal lubricant drops the tensile
and flexural strengths by 20%, while the apparent viscosity was
reduced by 24%. Zhang et al. [11] reported that HDPE/WF composites
containing lubricant processed by dispersive and distributive mixtures
in a twin-screw extruder showed uniform WF distribution in the
HDPE matrix with a decrease in complex viscosity. Li et al. [12]
investigated the melt behavior of WP blends using torque rheometry,
and found that the blend viscosity increases with increased WF content.
Using a capillary rheometer, Hristov and Vlachopoulos [13] studied the
effect of wood filler-filled metallocene polyethylene (mPE) composites on
WPC melt flow behavior and extrudate distortions. They reported that
at low shear rates smaller particles provided higher shear viscosity
than the larger sized filler; and high melt flow index polyethylene
(MFI PE) composite exhibited less surface tearing than low MFI PE
composite. Further, extrusion parameters, such as screw design, extrusion
temperature, throughput, and drawdown ratio (DDR), influenced the
mechanical properties of extruded composites [11,19,20]. Charlton et al.
[19] examined the tearing of recycled HDPE filled with 60 wt% rice hulls
profile extrudate, and showed that tearing occurred at all throughputs, and
the magnitude of the tearing increased with increased throughput and
decreased die land temperature. In addition, high extrusion temperatures
and low throughputs led to a higher degree of crystallinity and to
enhanced mechanical properties in the extruded PP profiles, and profile
distortion can be minimized through the use of a low DDR [20].
In summary, these studies demonstrated that the surface quality and
mechanical properties of extruded WPC depend on processing conditions
and material formulations mainly when the extrusion process is
considered. Since the relationship between processing and properties on
the extruded WPCs profile is still not fully understood, the research
opportunities, therefore, exist to optimize both processing and product
quality. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between
processing and properties on the extruded WPCs profile. The rectangular
WPC profiles were extruded under different extrusion conditions with
different composite formulations in a twin-screw extruder profile line. The
mechanical, morphological, and rheological properties of the extruded
WPC profiles were discussed.

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158 K. B. ADHIKARY ET AL.

EXPERIMENTAL

Materials

Standard softwood pine (Grade-12020) wood fibre from American

Wood Fibres, USA, was used. The WF particle size distribution for this
grade was 75–125 mm. The commercial grade of HDPE polymer (Novapol
HB-W355-A) from Nova Chemicals (density: 0.955 g/cm3 and MFI:
3.0 g/10 min at 2.16 kg/1908C) was used. The commercial grade
MAPE coupling agent (Grade-NE-542-013) and lubricant (Grade-
TPN-709) from Struktol USA, were used. The MAPE grade-NE-542-013
was a LLDPE-based coupling agent with an MFI of 13 g/10 min at
2.16 kg/1908C and a density of 0.943 g/cm3.

Composite Preparation

The WF was dried at 808C for 24 h prior to compounding to reduce its

moisture content. Plastic granules were also dried at 658C for 12 h. The
composite formulations designed were as per the percentage mass
proportions (Table 1). The WF and lubricant contents varied from
20–60 and 2–10 wt%, respectively, while the MAPE content was fixed at
3 wt%. The HDPE, WF, MAPE, and lubricant were first dry mixed and
then compounded using a co-rotating intermeshing twin-screw extruder
(ZSE-27 Leistritz; screw diameter: 19 mm; L/D ratio: 40). During
compounding, the barrel temperatures of the extruder were fixed at

Table 1. Wood plastic composite formulation.

WPC sample Wood flour HDPE content Lubricant MAPE

code content (wt%) (wt%) content (wt%) content (wt%)
PE70W20LA7 20 70 7 3
PE60W30LA7 30 60 7 3
PE50W40LA7 40 50 7 3
PE40W50LA7 50 40 7 3
PE30W60LA7 60 30 7 3
PE65W30LA2 30 65 2 3
PE63W30LA3 30 64 3 3
PE63W30LA4 30 63 4 3
PE63W30LA5 30 62 5 3
PE63W30LA5 30 61 6 3
PE57W30LA10 30 57 10 3

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Effects of Lubricant Content and Mechanical Properties 159

1608C for zones 1–5, and 1508C for zones 6–9, and at 1408C for the die.
The screw speed used was 125 rpm and the melt pressure ranged from
320 to 350 psi, depending on the WPC melts. The extruded strands that
exited the die were passed through a water bath, and were subsequently
palletized.
The extrusion runs were carried out in a profile extrusion line composed
of a twin-screw extruder, rectangular die/die land (25.4  6.4 mm2), cooled
shaper, guiding shaper, water cooling bath, and a haul-off unit. The
guiding shaper was submerged in the water bath and extrudate was passed
directly to the water after exiting the cooled shaper. For profile extrusion,
the extruder barrel temperatures were fixed at 1658C for zones 1–4, 1608C
for zones 5–7, 1508C for zones 8 to 9, and at 1608C for the die and
die land. The screw speed used was 75 rpm, and the feeding rate was
adjusted to guarantee a fixed level of extrudate throughput for different
extrusion runs. The melt pressure was varied from 394 to 871 psi, while
torque was varied from 27 to 60 Nm, depending on the composite
formulations. The compounded WP pellets were dried at 808C for 48 h
prior to profile extrusion. The haul-off unit was adjusted to achieve a
DDR of 1.0 whenever the throughput was varied to ensure consistent
WPC profiles.

Testing and Analysis

The density of WPC was measured in accordance with ASTM D792.

Tensile tests were performed using a standard Lloyd Instrument (LS100 plus
with 100-kN load cell) at a crosshead speed of 5 mm/min. in accordance with
ASTM D638-99. A type-IV tensile bar (115  19  6.4 mm3 (thickness)) was
cut from the extruded WPC profiles. Flexural properties were measured by
three-point bending tests (LS100 plus with a 100-kN load cell) at a crosshead
speed of 5 mm/min. in accordance with ASTM D790. The flexural test
specimen (120  12.7  6.4 mm3 (thickness)) was cut from the extruded WPC
profiles. Measurements were performed in ambient conditions (23  28C and
50% relative humidity), and five replicates were tested for each composite
formulation. The fractured surfaces of tensile/or flexural samples were
sputter-coated and then analyzed using scanning electron microscopy
(SEM) operated at an accelerating voltage of 15 kV and an emission current
of 47 mA.
The apparent shear viscosity of WPC blends was measured by capillary
rheometry (capillary rheometer RH 2000, Bohlin Instruments) equipped
with a 1-mm diameter die having an L/D ratio of 16. The shear flow test of
WPC blends was performed at 1908C and data were collected for the
pressure drop and a volume flow rate within 20–1000/s shear rates.

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160 K. B. ADHIKARY ET AL.

The apparent shear rate and nominal wall shear stress were calculated using
Equations (1) and (2), respectively:

 4Q
a ¼ ð1Þ
R3

P
w ¼ R ð2Þ
2L

where Q is the volumetric flow rate,
P the pressure drop in the capillary,
L and R are length and radius of the capillary die. The apparent shear
viscosity was calculated using Equation (3). As the capillaries were relatively
short (L/R550), the Bagley correction was applied to account for the excess
pressure drop
P at the capillary entry to get the corrected (true) shear
stress.

w
¼  ð3Þ
a

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Effect of WF Loading on Mechanical Properties

In general, the physical and mechanical properties of WPCs depend on

their constituent materials, interface interactions, and processing conditions.
The homogeneity of WPCs (i.e., WF distribution and wetting) is important
for the development of the mechanical properties. The distribution of WF in
the polymer matrix depends upon the polymer’s viscosity and on increased
wetting by the lubricant and coupling agent. The density, tensile, and
flexural properties of the WPC profile were measured for different
composite formulations and are given in Table 2. Density increased with
increased WF content, and ranged from 1005 to 1105 kg/m3, depending on
the WF and lubricant contents. The variations in tensile and flexural
strengths with different WF contents are shown in Figure 1. It was found
that tensile strength at break decreases with an increase in WF contents from
20 to 60 wt%. Tensile strength was reduced by 48% when WF content
was increased from 20 to 60 wt%. On the other hand, flexural strength was
increased gradually up to 50 wt% WF content. Flexural strength was
reduced by 41% when the WF content was increased to 60 wt%. Further,
the tensile and flexural modulii increased with an increase of WF content

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Effects of Lubricant Content and Mechanical Properties 161

Table 2. Density, tensile, and flexural properties of WPC profiles.

Tensile Flexural
properties properties
Maximum
WPC sample Density Strength Modulus Strength Modulus flexural strain
code (kg/m3) (MPa) (GPa) (MPa) (GPa) (mm/mm)
PE70W20LA7 1005.5 (4.5) 19.6 (1.2) 1.66 (0.12) 32.0 (2.2) 1.32 (0.04) 6.9 (1.2)
PE60W30LA7 1037.4 (9.3) 18.8 (1.4) 1.92 (0.12) 33.7 (0.7) 1.84 (0.11) 7.5 (0.7)
PE50W40LA7 1026.8 (23.0) 16.5 (0.7) 2.03 (0.11) 33.8 (1.3) 1.97 (0.20) 4.8 (0.1)
PE40W50LA7 1104.7 (15.8) 19.2 (0.6) 2.89 (0.13) 35.7 (3.0) 2.30 (0.10) 5.1 (0.1)
PE30W60LA7 1060.4 (14.5) 10.2 (0.6) 1.93 (0.14) 18.8 (2.1) 1.76 (0.18) 2.6 (0.1)
PE65W30LA2 1059.3 (36.9) 18.7 (1.5) 1.84 (0.04) 29.0 (4.4) 1.60 (0.19) 6.2 (0.6)
PE64W30LA3 – 16.9 (1.6) 1.64 (0.01) 31.7 (1.9) 1.74 (0.19) 6.5 (0.5)
PE63W30LA4 1007.1 (25.5) 18.0 (1.8) 1.71 (0.15) 30.9 (1.0) 1.61 (0.16) 6.5 (0.7)
PE62W30LA5 – 17.9 (0.9) 1.97 (0.10) 31.3 (2.5) 1.73 (0.18) 5.8 (0.5)
PE61W30LA6 – 17.2 (0.2) 1.89 (0.01) 31.3 (2.9) 1.63 (0.23) 5.7 (0.5)
PE57W30LA10 1020.5 (11.4) 14.8 (1.7) 1.91 (0.10) 28.1 (1.6) 1.81 (0.17) 5.9 (0.2)
Note: Values in parentheses are standard deviations.
‘–’, Density was not measured.

50

40
Strength (MPa)

30

20

10 Tensile strength
Flexural strength
0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70
WF content (wt%)
Figure 1. Effect of WF content on the tensile and flexural strengths of WPC profiles.

from 20 to 50 wt% (Figure 2). However, both tensile and flexural moduli
decreased significantly when WF content were increased to 60 wt%. For
example, tensile and flexural modulii decreased by 33% and 23.5%, when
WF content was increased from 50 to 60 wt%. The optimal tensile and
flexural property was obtained with 50 wt% WF at 7 and 3 wt% lubricant
and MAPE contents, respectively. No clear trend was obtained for the
maximum flexural strain with WF content. However, it was found that

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162 K. B. ADHIKARY ET AL.

Modulus (GPa)
2

1
Tensile modulus
Flexural modulus
0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70
WF content (wt%)
Figure 2. Effect of WF content on the tensile and flexural modulii of WPC profiles.

flexural strain decreased with an increase in WF content, except for 30 wt%

WF content (Table 2).
The improved mechanical properties achieved by increasing WF content
can be explained by WF’s stiffness and composite homogeneity (i.e., WF
distribution and wetting). As WF contains crystalline cellulose, the aligned
fibril structure of cellulose along with the hydrogen bond, was highly stiff.
Lignin as an amorphous polymer does not greatly contribute to the
mechanical properties of WF, but it does play an important role in binding
the cellulose fibrils that allow efficient stress transfer to the cellulose
molecules. Thus, the addition of WF increased the stiffness of WPC without
excessively increasing its density. But when WF content was high (60 wt%),
both tensile and flexural strength and modulii were decreased. The high WF
content led to an increase in WPC melt viscosity and to difficulty in wetting
and fibers dispersion in the polymer matrix. The presence of clusters of dry
fibers weakens the bonding between WF and HDPE and led to a property
reduction. High WF content also presents the possibility of voids formation.
This could result in a stress concentration region and the subsequent
coalescence of the voids into large voids and cracks which lead to premature
brittle fracture at a low stress level [21]. These results showed that low MFI
(53) HDPE polymer did not allow for an easy and convenient processing
window for profile extrusion with a higher than 50 wt% WF content, even
with 7 wt% lubricant content in the composite formulation. As 3 and 7 wt%
MAPE and lubricants, respectively, were added to all composite formula-
tions, the direct effect of these additives with respect to WF content was not
known. However, it is believed that MAPE and the lubricant improved the
melt viscosity and fiber–matrix bonding, which ultimately enhanced the
mechanical properties.

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Effects of Lubricant Content and Mechanical Properties 163
25 3.0
Tensile strength
Tensile modulus 2.5

Strength (MPa)

Modulus (GPa)
20 2.0

1.5

15 1.0

0.5

10 0.0
2 4 6 10
Lubricant content (wt%)
Figure 3. Effect of lubricant content on the tensile properties of WPC profiles.

45 3.0
Flexural strength
Flexural modulus
35 2.5
Strength (MPa)

Modulus (GPa)
25 2.0

15 1.5

5 1.0
2 4 6 10
Lubricant content (wt%)
Figure 4. Effect of lubricant content on the flexural properties of WPC profiles.

Effect of Lubricant Content on WPC’s Mechanical Properties and Processing

The effect of lubricant content on the processing and mechanical

properties of WPCs was investigated by varying the lubricant content
from 2–10 wt% with 30 wt% WF and 3 wt% MAPE content in the HDPE
matrix composite. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, respectively, it was found
that tensile strength decreased; however, the flexural strength of the WPCs
increased when lubricant content was increased from 2 to 7 wt%. However,
the decrease and increase in those values did not show significant variations
up to the lubricant content of 7 wt%. Furthermore, both tensile and flexural
strengths decreased at high lubricant content (10 wt%). No clear trend was
however observed for tensile and flexural modulii with increased lubricant
content. The tensile modulus decreased slightly up to 5 wt% lubricant, and

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164 K. B. ADHIKARY ET AL.

afterward increased slightly with increased lubricant content. Hence, the

variations in both tensile and flexural modulli with increased lubricant
content seem to be insignificant for the 30 wt% WF content WPCs. Further
investigation is, however, warranted to verify the lubricant effects in
mechanical properties at lower loadings. As expected, a higher content of
low molecular weight lubricant (10 wt%) reduced the strength values of
WPCs. The variations in strength and modulus values with lubricant
contents can be explained by the wetting and WF distribution effects of the
lubricant and the MAPE coupling agent. The slight variation probably was
resulted from the poor wetting and fibers dispersion rather than from the
synergistic effects between the lubricant and the MAPE. The poor bonding
between the HDPE matrix and WF due to insufficient wetting probably
caused the lower flexural strength at a low lubricant content. The drop in the
molecular weight of the base resin with the presence of a low molecular
weight lubricant also aided the reduction. It is further believed that
lubricants generally decrease nucleation on the fiber surface, and that some
lubricant is likely trapped between nucleating crystallites in their embryonic
state. This small amount of lubricant retained at the interface and interphase
morphology (i.e., a transcrystalline layer developed) reduced the interfacial
bonding between the WF and polymer matrix [18]. On the other hand, the
increase in intraphase flexural strength and tensile and flexural modulii
could possibly be due to the synergism between the lubricant and the MAPE
added together; when the lubricant does not interfere with the internal
lubricating role of the MAPE [17]. The lubricating role of both lubricant and
MAPE increased the bonding between the HDPE matrix and the WF due to
better wetting and WF dispersion and resulted in higher values. The results
showed that 7 wt% lubricants in the 30% WF, 3% MAPE in the 60%
HDPE (i.e., weight basis) provided optimal mechanical properties. It can be
said that there is optimal lubricant content for specific MAPE and WF
contents, beyond which the mechanical properties of the composites vary
significantly.
Processing parameters, such as average torque and melt pressure values,
were also monitored for different lubricant content. Both torque and melt
pressure decreased when lubricant content was increased (Figure 5). This
was consistent with the results obtained by Sombatsompop and
Phromchirasuk [22] for PVC/sawdust composites, and by Hristov et al.
[23] for HDPE/WF composites during extrusion processing. As the lubricant
inherently contributed to the increase in wall slip, it likely lowered the melt
pressure, while the internal lubrication effect of the MAPE also aided in this
reduction [23]. For similar processing temperatures and screw speed, melt
pressure and torque were increased with an increase in WF contents from 20
to 60 wt%, even for high lubricant contents of 7 wt% (not shown).

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Effects of Lubricant Content and Mechanical Properties 165
8.0 70
Melt
pressure

Melt pressure (MPa)

Torque

Torque (Nm)
6.0 50

4.0 30

2.0 10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Lubricant (wt%)
Figure 5. Variations of torque and melt pressure values for various lubricant contents.

10000
20% WF
Shear viscosity (Pa.s)

30% WF
1000 40% WF
50% WF

100

10
10 100 1000 10000
Apparent shear rate (s–1)
Figure 6. Shear viscosity as a function of shear rate of WPC at different WF.

Rheological Characterization

The effect of WF content on the apparent shear viscosity of WPC blends

was investigated by capillary rheometry. Results for the apparent shear
viscosity of WPC blends at shear rates ranging from 20 to 1000 s1 are
shown in Figure 6. As both 7 wt% lubricant and 3 wt% MAPE were added
to all composite formulations, the individual effect of WF alone could not
be determined. It is believed that the apparent shear viscosity of WPC blends
increases when WF content increases because WF does not melt and its
presence can increase the resistance against flow. No clear trend was
observed for apparent shear viscosity at different WF contents when
lubricant and MAPE were added together in the composite formulation.

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166 K. B. ADHIKARY ET AL.

This indicates that WF content in the blends seems to have little effect on the
efficiency of the internal lubricant, which is consistent with the results
reported by Li et al. [17]. The effect of lubricant content on apparent shear
viscosity as a function of shear rate for 30 wt% WF content WPCs is shown
in Figure 7. It was found that apparent shear viscosity decreased gradually
with increased lubricant content as compared to neat HDPE. Compared
with a high lubricant content, a lower lubricant content provided higher
shear viscosity. The apparent shear viscosity did not show any noticeable
variation at the low and high shear rates studied (20–1000 s1) with different
lubricant contents. The decrease in apparent shear viscosity is marginal with
lubricant content up to 4 wt%. A further increase in the lubricant content
showed a significant decrease in apparent shear viscosity, which does
significantly improve processability. The applied shear rate during proces-
sing was estimated from the applied screw speed, screw diameter, and
channel depth. The channel depth of the 27 mm twin screws is 4 mm and the
barrel to wall clearance is 0.5 mm. Based on these data, the shear rear during
processing ranged from 26.5 to 212 s1 over the channel and flights.
Although the shear viscosity was almost similar for the 5 and 7 wt%
lubricants at a lower shear rate, the shear viscosity was increased
significantly for 5 wt% lubricant content at a higher shear rate (Figure 7).
Further, it was clearly shown that the apparent shear viscosity decreased
significantly with the increased shear rate for all composite formulations.
This indicates that the WPC blend showed a shear-thinning (i.e., pseudo-
plastic flow) behavior under experimental conditions. As with the polymer
system, the WPC melts behaved as non-Newtonian fluids where the melt
viscosity decreased with increased shear rate and temperature. The viscosity
reduction could be due to the fiber and molecular alignments and

10000
HDPE
Shear viscosity (Pa.s)

2 LA
4 LA
1000 5 LA
7 LA
10 LA

100

10
10 100 1000 10000
Apparent shear rate (s–1)
Figure 7. Shear viscosity as a function of shear rate of WPCs at 30% WF and 3% MAPE
contents with different lubricant contents.

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Effects of Lubricant Content and Mechanical Properties 167

disentanglements of the long polymer chains and the presence of WF [6]. At

a higher shear rate, it is easier to force WPC blends to flow through the die
during processing. During extrusion, when wall shear stress exceeds the
optimal value, surface matt-ness occurs in the WPC profile, whereas at very
high shear rates, a flow instability known as melt fracture occurs. Hence, for
the range of shear rates experienced by WPC blends during extrusion
processing, the 7 wt% lubricants should be adequate.

Microstructure Characterization

The microstructures of the WPCs were analyzed by SEM images. The

microstructure of fractured surfaces observed different failure mechanisms,
which can be interrelated with the variation in the WPC mechanical
properties. Figure 8 shows the representative SEM images of the fractured
surfaces of WPC with 20, 40, 50 and 60 wt% WF content. It can be seen that
the wetting and WF distribution largely depends on the WF and lubricant
content. WF distribution is more uniform at a lower WF content, and
deteriorates with increased WF content. At high WF content the filler–filler

Figure 8. SEM images of fractured tensile samples containing 7 wt% lubricant and 3 wt%
MAPE with: (a) 20% (b) 40%, (c) 50%, and (d) 60% WF contents.

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168 K. B. ADHIKARY ET AL.

interaction is dominant, hence, the agglomeration of wood particles in the

WPC increases (Figure 8(d)).
The presence of voids was also observed in the SEM and found to increase
with higher WF content. The presence of minimal gaps and voids observed
with a relatively strong polymer–filler interaction in the WPCs was due to
the presence of the MAPE and lubricant. The dominant fracture
mechanisms observed for all WPCs were debonding and fiber pull-out
(Figure 8) rather than fibers and matrix breakages. Figure 9 showed SEM
images of WPCs with different lubricant contents for 30 wt% WF content
WPC. The WF distribution was more uniform at a higher lubricant content
due to adequate wetting. An agglomeration of WF can be seen in the WPCs
with a lower lubricant content, which showed premature failure with fiber
pull-out. Fibers and matrix breakage was dominant at a low lubricant
content, with some debonding and fibers pull-out phenomena (Figure 9(a)).
With a high lubricant content, debonding and fibers pull-out was dominant
(Figure 9(d)). Even though lubricant improved fiber dispersion and wetting,
it reduced interface bonding and led to the debonding failure mechanism,
with a reduced ultimate failure load.

Figure 9. SEM images of fractured flexural samples containing 30 wt% WF and 3 wt% MAPE
with: (a) 2%, (b) 4%,(c) 7%, and (d) 10% lubricant contents.

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Effects of Lubricant Content and Mechanical Properties 169

CONCLUSIONS

Rectangular WPC profiles were produced from the HDPE and WF with
different material formulations and extrusion conditions using a twin-screw
extruder profile line. The influence of WF, MAPE, and lubricant contents
on extrudate quality and mechanical properties were investigated. The
following conclusions were drawn from this study:
1. Both tensile and flexural properties (i.e., strength and modulus) of WPCs
increased with increased WF contents up to 50 wt%; however, both
properties decreased when WF content was further increased to 60 wt%.
The optimal tensile and flexural properties were obtained with 50 wt%
WF at 7 and 3 wt% lubricant and MAPE contents.
2. The tensile strength decreased; however, the flexural strength of the
WPCs was increased by increasing the lubricant content up to 7 wt%. Yet
both properties decreased when the lubricant content was increased to
10 wt%. No clear trend was observed for tensile and flexural modulii
changes with increased lubricant content.
3. Processing parameters, such as torque and melt pressure, decreased when
the lubricant content was increased in the composite formulations.
4. The dominant failure mechanism was the fibers and matrix breakage at a
low lubricant content, whereas debonding and fibers pull-out was
dominant in WPCs with high lubricant content.
5. The apparent shear viscosity of WPC melts decreased gradually with
increased lubricant content in the composite formulation. Lower
lubricant content provided higher shear viscosity than did higher
lubricant content. The apparent shear viscosity did not show any
noticeable variation at low and high shear rates with lubricant contents.
6. For practical applications, a combination of HDPE grade, WF,
lubricant, and MAPE contents can provide the benefits of lower shear
viscosity while maintaining the mechanical properties and surface
smoothness of the extrudate WPC profiles.

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