Melamine-resin based Wood Plastic Composites (WPC) - heat resistance

This article deals with the advantages of properties - especially at higher temperatures - of WPC made of thermosets, based on a new generation of melamine resins, compared to WPC made of thermoplastics. The heat deflection temperature of WPC made of thermoset was determined by measuring the tensile strength at higher temperatures, the creep, the thermal expansion and the heat distortion temperature (HDT) compared to WPC made of thermoplastics. The results show that it is possible to assign the special properties of thermosets - especially the heat resistance to the wood-thermosets-composites. Additionally the differences to WPC made of thermoplastics could be pointed out. By means of annealing the heat deflection temperature of WPC made of thermosets could be improved.