Impact of crumb rubber reinforcement on the properties of wood-plastic composites

The use of crumb rubber is one form of recycling scrap tires that can aid in addressing the environmental concerns of tire disposal. In the present investigation, reinforced wood-plastic composites (WPCs) were manufactured incorporating crumb rubber. The bulk density of crumb rubber-reinforced WPC was found to be 19% higher than the baseline materials. This indicated that crumb rubber assisted in the consolidation process. Both baseline and crumb rubber-reinforced WPC materials were mechanically characterized according to ASTM D 1037. Compression modulus of crumb rubber-reinforced WPC showed an increase of 200% as compared to baseline WPC. Cone calorimetry demonstrated that the peak heat release rate, the maximum average rate of heat emission (MARHE), effective heat of combustion, and fuel load of crumb rubber-reinforced WPC were lower than the baseline WPC. Nonetheless, it was observed that the amount of CO and CO2 produced were more in the case of crumb rubber-reinforced WPC.