Wood-Reinforced Polymer Composites

The importance of protection of natural resources, recycling and biodegrability are the basic reasons behind the increased use of lignocellulosic (LC) material–reinforced polymer composites. This chapter investigates wood filler–reinforced polymer composites, which have gained attention among the researchers and in the market in woody applications having aesthetic and low service costs. Most polymers have the increasing cost of petrochemical products while LC materials are obtained from different national resources such as different types of wood powder. LC materials are available in light, cheap, environment-friendly forms with easy maintenance. The main disadvantages of LC-reinforced composites are moisture sensitivity and poor dimensional stability, besides changing wood fiber characteristics in time and poor adhesion to basically all kind of matrix polymers. Additive usage in manufacturing is an increasing trend of wood-based LC material–reinforced polymer composite parts to penetrate new markets, with better performance requirements and long-term stability. This chapter investigates description, classification, production with common additive types and usage of wood-polymer composite materials. In addition, it approaches preprocesses to reach high productivity and high-quality product manufacturing. Finally, some experimental manufacturing results of wood-reinforced polymer composites are presented

Effects of process parameters on mechanical and metallurgical properties in high pressure die casting of AZ91 magnesium alloy

27-35High pressure die casting (HPDC) of magnesium (Mg) alloys has been the fastest grown up and the most globally developed section in magnesium industry. HPDC of complex shape Mg alloy products have increased considerably in recent years. But low mechanical and metallurgical performance of the casting products could be experienced due to defects in HPDC of Mg alloy parts under heavy working conditions. Process technologies should be modified and process parameters need to be optimized for the use of Mg based alloy products as high performance casting parts. The correct selection of the process parameters means the correct manufacturing of the casting parts. There is a wide range of suggested process parameters for HPDC of different Mg alloys in the literature. This paper specifies optimum process parameters for the required mechanical and metallurgical properties of the die casting parts, experimentally. Experimental tests are performed by using Taguchi experimental procedure to determine the optimum process parameters in cold chamber HPDC of Mg alloy parts. Confirmation and statistical analyzing tests have confirmed the results. The results minimize the available range of process parameters in the literature for high mechanical properties and low porosity content of casting products by conducting the designed experiments in an industrial scale mass production line considering the product quality