ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH DEVELOPMENT OF WOOD FIBER REINFORCED POLYMER COMPOSITES

Integrating natural fibers into environmentally friendly polymers enhances mechanical properties, opening avenues for sustainable composites and advanced additive manufacturing (AM). This study incorporates wood fibers, a versatile cellulose resource, into a bio-based polylactic acid (PLA) polymer for 3D printing. This helps in the development of sustainable and recyclable green composites using fused deposition modeling (FDM). The printed composites undergo comprehensive characterization, assessing critical properties like density, porosity, microstructures, tensile modulus, and ultimate strength. Non-contact digital image correlation (DIC) technology analyzes local stress and strain concentration during mechanical testing. The validated FDM-based AM process is applied to print honeycombs, woven bowls, and frame bins, showcasing manufacturing capability. The mechanical performance and failure mechanism of 3D-printed honeycombs are evaluated under compressive loads using DIC. The research findings inform the design and optimization of AM-processed composite structures for a diverse array of engineering applications.