Evaluation of Bolted Connections in Wood Plastic Composites.

摘要

The goals of this research were to verify the European Yield Model (EYM) for wood plastic composites (WPC) with 12.7 mm diameter bolts, and to observe the general behavior of WPC connections. WPCs are relatively new materials, and little is known about their connection performance. Two different formulations of WPCs were examined in this study. The first formulation was an extruded WPC with a 50/50 wood fiber to low-density polyethylene (LDPE) ratio, and the second was an extruded WPC with a 70/30 wood fiber to high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Full connection tests were designed with two different aspect ratios for each WPC. Aspect ratio is defined for this study as the ratio of main member thickness to bolt diameter. The first geometry had an aspect ratio of 3, and the second had an aspect ratio of 6. WPC dowel bearing strengths and bolt bending yield strengths were measured. Unconstrained connection tests, without nuts or washers, were conducted as well. The effect of displacement rate on dowel bearing strength was also examined.