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Abstract

The influences of fiber mass fraction and temperature on the effective thermal properties of aspen wood fiber/high density polyethylene composites are investigated. One major goal is to ascertain the composition at which the composite possesses thermal properties that are indicative of good fire safety characteristics. The paper also examines the extent to which analytical expressions presently available in the literature can be used for predicting the composite thermal properties from those of the individual components. The results show that temperature effects on the effective thermal properties of the composite diminish with increase of wood fiber mass fraction. Composites having 50 to 60% wood fiber by mass appear to possess the best processing and fire safety qualities.

Keywords

wood fiber/polymer composite fire safety flame spread inverse heat conduction parameter estimation thermal properties correlation functions

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References

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Experimental Investigation of the Thermal Properties of Wood Fiber/Thermoplastic Composites

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