Effect of Injection Direction in Elaboration of Polypropylene Reinforced with Olive Wood Flour on Ultrasonic and Morphological Properties

Although the anisotropy of wood fibers is reasonably well established, the anisotropy of injection molded wood fiber composites is not well understood. For this, fiber distribution is an important parameter in determining the properties of the composite. This work investigates the application of ultrasonic testing in evaluating natural fiber thermoplastic composites reinforced with olive wood flour (OWF). The characterization of sound propagation speed in the composite is intended to be a tool for evaluating the bio-composite namely fiber distribution and the effects of the direction of injection during the elaboration of the composite. The quality of fiber distribution homogeneity can be assessed by mapping the returning signals of the emitted longitudinal ultrasonic wave. This study presents the measured sound speeds for a composite system of OWF and polypropylene (PP) using immersion measurements. It is known that the longitudinal wave velocity is a function of the material property, which in turn is a function of fiber content and adhesion efficiency. Therefore, the aim of this work is to study the feasibility of using the ultrasonic longitudinal sound wave and the time of flight TOF instead of the morphological analysis with the scanning electron microscope, which is much more expensive and complicate.