Tensile Strength and Modulus of Composite Profiles

COMPRESSIVE AND TENSILE STRENGTH AND MODULUS OF COMPOSITE PROFILES 

Compressive and tensile strength and modulus of wood-plastic composite (WPC) materials are not among standard parameters required for composite characterizations. They are not included in ICC-ES acceptance criteria or other requirements. Hence, we will consider them here very briefly. 

In a tensile test, the specimen ( dogbone ) is gripped at each end and pulled apart. The dogbone shape of a specimen is chosen to minimize the likelihood to break the sample at or near the grips (jaws). The detailed shape (curvature) of a specimen is described in ASTM D 638, Test method for tensile properties of plastics.  

In short, a typical readout in tensile tests is elongation of the specimen, which is a stretch, or extension of the specimen. The elongation is typically expressed in percent of the stretch related to gage length (the distance between two reference points within the center section of the dogbone. In other words, percent of elongation equals to lOOX tensile strain. 

In a compressive test, the specimen, often machined as a right prism whose length is twice its width, is squeezed (compressed). 

---