Calculation model for uniaxial stress–strain relationship of wood plastic composites

Abstract This paper presents an investigation on the mechanical properties of wood plastic composites under uniaxial stress. Experimental studies of test pieces with tensile and compressive load were performed. Failure modes, stress–strain relationship, and other crucial parameters were recorded and analyzed. The results indicated that brittle failure was the typical failure mode of the tensile test specimens, however, shear‐compression failure and wedge double shear failure were commonly observed for samples under compressive load. Mechanical properties of WPC are better than those of timber according to different national standards. Different analytical models were proposed for evaluating the stress–strain response of the specimens. The fitting between the experimental results and calculations was good.