The Relationship Between Plastic Virginity and Engineering Properties of Wood Plastic Composites
4 Abstract: This study attempted to investigate the relationship between plastic virginity and physico-mechanical properties of wood plastic composites. To meet this objective, wood flour was mixed with either virgin or recycled polypropylene at 40%, 50% and 60% by weight fiber loading. The samples were made by melt compounding and then injection molding. The amount of coupling agent was fixed at 2% for all formulations. Then physical and mechanical properties of composites were measured according to ASTM standard. Then, all the experimental data were collected and analyzed with the analysis of variance techniques and suitable model was selected with the simple's linear regression model. Results indicated that the flexural strength, flexural modulus, tensile strength and tensile modulus of composites of recycled plastic composites were higher than those of virgin plastics. Also, the water absorption and thickness swelling of samples decreased with the increase of recycled plastic loading. Furthermore, optimization processes have been carried out to determine the suitable combinations of plastic virginity variables in order to attain desirable physical and mechanical properties of wood plastic composites.
Water Absorption Behavior of Composites from Sawdust and Recycled Plastics
The water absorption of wood plastic composites (WPCs) prepared from sawdust and virgin and/or recycled plastics (HDPE and PP) was studied. Wood flour was prepared from sawdust and mixed with different virgin or recycled plastics at 50% by weight fiber loading. The mixed materials were compression molded into panels. Long term water absorptions of manufactured WPCs were evaluated by immersing them in water at room temperature for several weeks (up to 1750 h). Water diffusion coefficients were also calculated by evaluating the water absorption isotherms. Results indicated that the maximum water absorption and diffusion coefficients increased by increasing the proportion of recycled HDPE and/or PP. Time to reach saturation also decreased at higher recycled plastic contents. Water absorption of the studied composites was proved to follow the kinetics of a Fickian diffusion process.
Creativity profile of university and conservatory dance students.
What are dance students' creative potential, Special personality characteristics and preferences for high energy activities? Using standardized and original paper and pencil instruments, comparisons were made among dance students in university and conservatory settings, college students and art students. The results demonstrated that dance students are creative, show strong preference for dynamic figures, and have distinct personality characteristics. The university dance students differed from the conservatory students in several important ways.