Reliability Study of Wood–Plastic Composites Based on Probabilistic Finite Elements

Abstract

In order to further expand the application field of wood–plastic composites, it is necessary to study the reliability of this material in practical applications. Therefore, this work takes the maximum stress theory as the failure criterion and uses the finite element method to simulate the reliability of the WPC specimen. Based on the simulation results, the relationship between reliability and random variables such as geometric parameters and external load is analyzed. Finite element simulations are carried out for each group of specimens under the same operating environment to analyze the influence of process parameters such as the wood flour content, granulation temperature, coupling agent content and screw speed on the reliability of the specimens during the manufacturing process. The results show that the wood flour content has the greatest influence on the reliability of the specimens when the wood–plastic composites are used as building paving materials, followed by the granulation temperature, coupling agent content and screw speed, which provides a basis for the selection of the manufacturing process parameters of WPC based on reliability.