The focus of this study was to observe the mechanical properties of bamboo plastic composites (BPCs) with bamboo pulp fiber (BPF) or white mud (WM). The essential work of fracture (EWF) methodology was used to characterize the impact toughness of BPCs. The results revealed an increase in flexural, tensile and impact properties, when adding the BPF in the BPCs. While the flexural properties of WM-reinforced BPCs revealed increasing, there was a decrease in tensile and impact strength. In an impact strength analysis study, BPF-filled BPCs showed excellent impact property over WM-filled BPCs; scanning electron microscopy (SEM) helps to explain impact fracture behavior of BPCs. EWF analysis of impact results showed that the specific essential work of fracture (we) increased significantly with the amount of BPF used in BPCs but decreased with the increase of WM in the BPCs. There was similar variation for the non-essential plastic work (βwp) of BPCs. This result indicates that the fracture initiation and fracture propagation of BPCs are different.
Keywords: bamboo plastic composites; essential work of fracture methodology; mechanical properties.