Effect of wood-fiber geometry size on mechanical properties of wood-fiber from Neolamarckia Cadamba species reinforced polypropylene composites.

Using natural wood-fiber as reinforcement in commercial thermoplastics is gaining
momentum due to its high specific properties and renewable resources. In this study, the effect of
wood particle geometry size on mechanical properties of thermoplastics composite was
investigated. The wood species that has been chosen is Kelempayan species (Neolamarckia
cadamba) and reinforced with polypropylene using fiber geometry size of 75 and 250 μm.
Thermoplastic composites were produced from two types of ratio (30:70 and 10:90) between
wood-fiber and polypropylene. Static bending and tensile strength were tested. The result
showed that wood-fiber from 75 μm geometry sizes with ratio of 30:70 between wood-fiber and
polypropylene was most suitable in producing thermoplastic composites. The geometry sizes of
wood particle as well as the ratio between wood-fiber and polypropylene were found to influence
the mechanical properties of the thermoplastic composites.