To improve the adhesion properties, the surfaces of polyethylene wood plastic composites (WPCs) were treated by a combination of sanding then coating with a silane coupling agent, followed by plasma discharge. The surface properties of polyethylene WPCs were studied by assessing the contact angle and bonding strength, as well as implementing Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicated that the roughness of the composites increased during the combined treatment, when compared with the untreated composites. The content of the oxygen elements on the surfaces of the combined treated composites also was found to increase. This indicated that there were polar groups formed, such as -OH, -C=O, and -O-C=O. The surface wettability of the composites improved after the combined treatment. At the same time, chemical bonding between the coupling agent and the wood fibers of the sanding-treated composites occurred. The surface properties of the polyethylene WPCs were changed by the combined treatment, which became favorable for adhesiveness. After the combined treatment, the shear strength and durability of the bonding joints of the composite increased significantly and displayed a synergistic effect from the surface treatment.

The elastic strain of wood reflects the nature (stretching or compression) and the magnitude of the drying stress at that time during the conventional drying process. The accurate prediction of strain is important to optimize the drying process and to improve drying speed and quality. In this work, the elastic strain was measured in real time, and moisture content was measured by periodic weighing during the drying process. Using these data, the GM (1,1) grey prediction model was used to predict moisture content in adjacent periods in the future. Based on the moisture content predicted by GM (1,1), a BP neural network was constructed to predict the development trend of elastic strain in the surface layer and core layer. The prediction results of the GM-BP combination model showed that the fitting error range of the prediction of the surface layer elastic strain was [-5×10-3~5×10-3], with a mean square error (MSE) of 2.31×10-7. The elastic strain of the core layer was [-2×10-3~2×10-3], and the MSE was 3.86×10-8. Thus, the GM-BP model achieved high accuracy for predicting the development trend of elastic strain. It can provide a new method and innovative thinking for the optimization and control of wood drying process.

Wood powder/polyethylene composites (WP/PE) were surface treated by plasma discharge and bonded with epoxy resin and acrylic ester adhesives, respectively. The finite element model of the single lap bonded joints of WP/PE was established through the elastic-plastic finite element method, and the influences of adhesive and lap length on the stress distribution in the adhesive joints were analyzed. The results showed that polar oxygen-containing groups were introduced to the WP/PE surface with the plasma treatment, which improved the bonding properties. The peak values of Mises equivalent stress, peel stress, and shear stress of the bonded joints were mainly concentrated at the end of the bond joint. The peak values of the stress in the lap zone of the high-modulus epoxy resin-bonded joints were higher than those of the low-modulus acrylic ester-bonded joints. With an increased length of the joints, the Mises equivalent stress peak value at the end increased slightly, the peeling stress peak value decreased slightly, and the shear stress peak value changed little. The elastic modulus of the adhesive had a great influence on the stress distribution, and the change in the lap length was not remarkable enough to improve the stress distribution of the adhesive joint.

A design for strap lap bond joints of wood powder/polyethylene composites (WP/PE) was proposed. The effects of combined treatment on surface properties of WP/PE and failure modes of WP/PE bonded by epoxy and acrylic ester were investigated. A finite element model of strap lap bond joints of WP/PE was established based on the elastoplasticity finite element method, and the effects of lap length and adhesive (epoxy and acrylic ester) on stress distributions and comprehensive displacements of strap lap bond joints of WP/PE were investigated. The results demonstrated that the bonding interface roughness of WP/PE was enhanced by the combined surface treatment. Active oxygen-containing functional groups were introduced to the sample surface. The finite element simulation results revealed that the Mises equivalent stress peaks and comprehensive displacements of strap lap bond joints were concentrated in lap zone ends and board connections, the stress distribution was independent of the lap length, and the Mises equivalent stress peaks and comprehensive displacements were independent of the adhesive.