This study examined the effect of acceleratedfreeze-thaw actions on the durability of wood fiberplasticcomposites. Rigid PVC formulations filledwith various concentrations of wood flour (both pineand maple) were processed in a conical twin-screwextruder and exposed to accelerated cyclic freezethawactions according to the ASTM standardD6662. The durability of exposed samples wasassessed in terms flexural properties, density anddimensional stability. The experimental resultsindicated that the stiffness of the composites wassignificantly affected by freeze-thaw cycling,regardless of both the wood species and content.Conversely, the strength of the composites was notsignificantly affected by the freeze-thaw actions atlower wood-flour content (up to 75 phr). However,the deleterious effects of freeze thaw actions on thestrength of the composites become apparent at higherwood flour content (100 phr). Freeze-thaw actionsdid not affect the density of rigid PVC/wood-flourcomposites. Both the thickness swell and widthchanges due to freeze-thaw actions increased withwood flour content.
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