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Review

Wood–Plastic Composites: Manufacturing, Rheology and Processing and Process Modeling

by
Krzysztof Wilczyński
1,*,
Kamila Buziak
1 and
Adam Wilczyński
2
1
The Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineeering, Warsaw University of Technology, 02-524 Warsaw, Poland
2
PolymerSoft, 85-063 Bydgoszcz, Poland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Materials 2025, 18(17), 4042; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18174042 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 19 June 2025 / Revised: 16 July 2025 / Accepted: 26 August 2025 / Published: 28 August 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Manufacturing Processes and Systems)

Abstract

Wood–plastic composites (WPCs) are polymeric materials, usually thermoplastic, filled with wood flour or fibers. They are relatively durable and stiff and resistant to water. They are also, importantly, relatively cheap compared to materials with similar properties. The WPCs market has grown significantly in recent years, mainly thanks to the increasing construction and automotive markets. Currently, the global WPCs market is forecasted to reach about USD 15 billion by 2030, increasing at an impressive compound annual increase rate of about 12% until 2030. There are some review articles on WPCs written from many different points of view, e.g., the type of materials used (polymers, fillers, auxiliaries), the method of manufacturing and processing, processing properties (thermal and rheological) and functional properties, methods of designing composite products and designing (modeling) forming processes. In this article, we will summarize these different points of view and will present a thorough literature review of rheology and material processing, and more specifically, the modeling of WPCs processing. This work will be presented in relation to state-of-the-art research in the field of modeling the processing of other polymeric materials, i.e., standard (neat) polymers and polymer blends. The WPCs’ processing is significantly different from that of standard plastics due to the differences in thermo-rheological properties, diverse structures, etc. So far, the global WPCs processing models have only been developed for both gravity-fed and starve-fed single-screw extrusion. The models for twin-screw extrusion, both co-rotating and counter-rotating, as well as for injection molding, have still not been developed. WPCs show a yield stress and wall slip when extruding, which must be considered when modeling the process. As the slippage on the screw and barrel grows, the process throughput and pressure diminish, but as the slippage on the die grows, the throughput grows and the pressure diminish. As the yield stress in the screw grows, the process throughput and pressure grow, whereas as the yield stress in the die grows, the throughput diminishes and the pressure grows.
Keywords: wood–plastic composites; rheology; viscosity; yield stress; slip effects; process modeling; extrusion; injection molding wood–plastic composites; rheology; viscosity; yield stress; slip effects; process modeling; extrusion; injection molding
Graphical Abstract

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MDPI and ACS Style

Wilczyński, K.; Buziak, K.; Wilczyński, A. Wood–Plastic Composites: Manufacturing, Rheology and Processing and Process Modeling. Materials 2025, 18, 4042. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18174042

AMA Style

Wilczyński K, Buziak K, Wilczyński A. Wood–Plastic Composites: Manufacturing, Rheology and Processing and Process Modeling. Materials. 2025; 18(17):4042. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18174042

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wilczyński, Krzysztof, Kamila Buziak, and Adam Wilczyński. 2025. "Wood–Plastic Composites: Manufacturing, Rheology and Processing and Process Modeling" Materials 18, no. 17: 4042. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18174042

APA Style

Wilczyński, K., Buziak, K., & Wilczyński, A. (2025). Wood–Plastic Composites: Manufacturing, Rheology and Processing and Process Modeling. Materials, 18(17), 4042. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18174042

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