One advantage of wood-plastic composites (WPCs) over traditional wood members is that they can be extruded in a variety of cross-sections. This creates the potential for the designer to tailor the product profile to the required stress distribution and tested material properties. Current design methodologies, however, do not make use of this method because the material behavior is not well characterized and the necessary material testing procedures have not been established. Since WPCs are visco-elastic, their mechanical behavior must be understood both in quasi-static loading and long-term response.
展开▼
