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The manuscript presents the barrier properties of Arboblend V2 Nature and Arboblend V2 Nature reinforced by coating granules with silver nanoparticles, regarding the contact angle and oxygen transmission rate. Also, are highlighted compression molding stages used in order to obtain the test samples - thin sheets. Following the obtained results is observed that by using the PVD coating the oxygen transmission ratio is reduced up to 32% compared to the base material. This improvement is due to the small silver nanoparticles that were uniformly deposited on the surface of Arboblend V2 Nature granules. In what concern the surface-wetting of the analysed samples, a small but obvious improvement takes place, the difference between the average contact angles being approximatively 5°.

The success of the manufacturing process which involves grinding as one of the stages depends solely on the accuracy of the grinding process. Being the last stage of the manufacturing path, it is mostly done to provide the desired surface finish to the product. This makes the stage very crucial. To prevent the ruining of all the previous stages and efforts, the real-time monitoring of the grinding stage becomes necessary which will make a room for better production planning and avoidance of failure occurrence. Conventionally the quality is dependent on the machine behavior as well as the operator’s skill. To make the process in par with the latest industry 4.0, real-time process monitoring of the grinding process with the use of a vibration sensor is considered. The developed system in the paper focusses on the monitoring of the process behavior and log the occurred changes. The hardware architecture and software modules are introduced in detail and the application of the developed system is demonstrated with the grinding of an automotive part. The developed system is convenient to use and very helpful in improving the overall productivity of the brake disc production facility by reducing the quality failures and hence saving the resources.

Polymeric materials are synthetic macromolecular products, of which, by mechanical or thermal processing, objects of various shapes can be obtained, with wide uses in industry and commerce. This paper deals with the roughness of surfaces obtained during drilling of three polymeric materials: polyamide - PA6, polyacetal - POM-C and high density polyamide - HDPE 1000. In the experimental research was used a EMCO MILL 55 milling machine numerical controlled and HS steel helical drills with two straight cutting edges with the diameter of �8 mm and �10 mm, respectively. Experimental determinations consisted in drilling of the polymeric materials by modifying some parameters of the cutting regime, and determining the roughness of the surface of the holes machined, using the Mitutoyo Surftest SJ-210 rough meter. The purpose of the paper is to predict the roughness of the machined surfaces as one of the important surface quality indicators by using a geometrical model and an artificial neural network (ANN) methodology.

A research is reported on the nanomechanics and tribology of the Arboblend V2 Nature biopolymer (a 100% bio-based material, biodegradable, or resistant depending of application), being a mixture of different biopolymers such as lignin, polylactic acid, cellulose, biopolyamides, and other natural additives. The specimens were made by an industrial-scale injection molding machine. The nanoindentation characterization have unveiled that an increase in processing temperature from 160°C to 170°C produces a rise in hardness and elastic modulus of ∼20%. Tribological characterization against a bearing-steel counterface has shown that for both processing temperatures, the increase of the applied load or the increase of sliding speed will produce an increase of the friction coefficient (µ) and wear. At an applied load of 1 N (contact pressure of 104 MPa) and tracks in a direction perpendicular to the surface textured lines, the lowest µ ∼ 0.148 are for samples made T = 170°C, while for tracks parallel to the textured lines, the lowest µ ∼ 0.059 is obtained for samples made at T = 160°C. Experiments made at different ambient humidity have established that friction coefficient is higher at 0% RH or at 75% RH than at 33% RH. Our results show that the biopolymers Arboblend V2 Nature is a candidate to substitute some popular fossil-based thermoplastics in numerous tribological industrial applications.

The green composites from renewable resources are being increasingly studied because of their potential to provide benefits to the natural environment. Biotechnologies such as liquid wood injection moulding have several merits into account. Liquid wood is a thermoplastic material made from byproducts of the wood pulp industry. The liquid wood is in the form of pellets, which for processing will be melted and injected, just like plastics. This study is set to explore the potential advantages of combining liquid wood with silver nanoparticles. The use of silver-nanoparticles as antimicrobial agent is being evaluated for biomedical devices as well as furniture in many public places. In order to solve manufacturing problems in handling and spreading nano-particles in injection moulding products, an innovative methodology has been used. Plastic pellets are coated by Physical vapor deposition (PVD) with a nanometric layer of metallic silver. This continuous nanofilm produces silver nanoparticles during the plastification stage of the injection moulding process. Nano-coating fragmentation allows to distribute silver nano-platelets in the polymer matrix with very low contents and incomparable homogeneity. PVD coating has been optimized to take into account the nature of the raw material to process, mainly in terms of high-water content and small pellet size. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) on liquid wood granules coated with silver showed that no alteration has been produced in PVD. In fact, DSC scans show that no interaction is present between the polymer structure and the metal coating. These studies allow also a preliminary evaluation of the properties belongs of the new biomaterial, while opening for discussion the potential applications and future use in a wide variety of areas such as: bioengineering, medical and others.

Surface texturing is an engineering technology used in order to improve the surface characteristic of plastic parts obtained by injection molding. Applying this process not only changes the part surface properties, but also its topography. The novel functionalities of plastic products become useful when other materials make contact with the textured surface. Of course, these characteristics may vary depending on the laser positioning, dimensions, and geometry of the texture. The present paper presents the surface characteristics obtained after the laser texturing of the Arboblend V2 Nature biodegradable polymer. Three distinct geometries were studied: hexagonal, square, and triangular, and different behaviors of them were highlighted during surface free energy (SFE) and contact angle (WCA) measurements: a hydrophobic character for square and hexagonal geometry with distilled water as the measure liquid, and a hydrophilic character with diiodomethane as the measure liquid; for triangle geometry, the contact angle measurements were impossible to extract because the drop turns into a flat puddle. Additionally, the friction coefficient varied depending on the geometry texture, with the lowest value being recorded by the sample with hexagonal geometry. The micro-indentation tests highlighted increased surface micro-hardness compared to the basic material. The possibility of use in the practice of textured surfaces is viable; thus, based on the obtained results, there is even the possibility to replace non-biodegradable polymers from different sectors of activity.

Biodegradable materials investigation has become a necessity and a direction for many researchers worldwide. The main goal is to find sustainable alternatives which gradually replace plastics based on fossil resources from the market, because they are very harmful to the environment and to overall quality of life. In order to get to the stage of obtaining different functional parts from biodegradable materials, it is necessary to study their properties. Taking into account these shortcomings, this paper aims at the mechanical characterization (DMA—Dynamic Mechanical Analysis) and thermal degradation (thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)) of lignin-based biopolymers: Arboform LV3 Nature®, Arboblend® V2 Nature, and Arbofill® Fichte Arboform® LV3 Nature reinforced with aramid fibers. The tested samples were obtained by using the most common fabrication technique for polymers—injection molding. The obtained results for the DMA analysis showed separate polymeric-specific regions for each material and, based on the tanδ values between (0.37–0.54), a series of plastics could be proposed for replacement. The mechano-dynamic behavior could be correlated with the thermal expansion of biopolymers for temperatures higher than 50/55 °C, which are thermally stable up to temperatures of at least 250 °C.

The additive manufacturing technology has made its debut in the industrial field about 30 years ago, when prototyped parts were usually used at the 3D printing stage during fabrication, to give the end customer a truthful concept of how a part will looks when conventional manufacturing techniques were used for final part fabrication. Because of the increasing demand for non-toxic, biodegradable materials and products, human society is always searching for new materials with specific applications, which are able to fulfill the above-mentioned requirements. Consequently, it is essential to identify the qualities of these materials and their behavior when subjected to various external factors, in order to find their optimal solutions for application in various domains. Manufacturing parts from biodegradable materials by 3D printing represents a major concern of industry specialists. The 3D printing process involves several parameters whose influence on the sample functional characteristics is a topical issue. In this paper are determined influences of certain technological parameters (thickness of the layer, filling speed, and part orientation on the printing bed) on some mechanical properties (tensile strength, structure, thermal analysis by DSC, and friction coefficient). Experiments were performed on specimens made of three materials: PLA, HD PLA Green, and Impact PLA Gray. A complete factorial experimental plan was used with three input parameters on two levels. Each experiment was repeated three times following the process stability. The obtained mean values of the tensile test were used in the analysis. The analysis was performed with the MiniTab application, which allowed the parameters hierarchy by influencing each mechanical characteristic studied, model development, and optimum values setting.

The chapter aims to establish the optimal texture area, which is why four areas were analyzed depending on the stroke of the lubrication segment, as follows: total texture, between upper and lower dead center; in the area of the upper dead center; in the middle area, between the upper dead center and the lower dead center; lower dead center area.

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is an extrusion-based additive manufacturing technique which growing rapidly due to its ability to fabricate complex parts directly from CAD models. In conjunction with its growing applications, the mechanical behavior of the FDM printed part needs thorough investigation for effective application as an end use functional part in various industries such as aerospace, automobile, mold and die, biomedical. Functional applications of FDM printed parts are affected due to their lower mechanical properties compared to injection molded parts. The assessment of the mechanical behavior of the FDM printed part is proved as challenging task due to the wide variety of the process parameters. In the present work, an attempt has been made to experimentally investigate the tensile behavior of FDM printed parts having multi-Infill patterns and different stacking of layer arrangements for different Infill density and raster orientations. Combined patterned parts are printed from two thermoplastic materials, viz. PLA and ABS having six different stacking sequences at three different levels of Infill density (i.e., 30%, 60% and 90%) and two different raster arrangements (i.e., 0° and 45°) and those are mechanically tested to obtain tensile properties. Further, the fractographic analysis was carried out to study various aspects of tensile failure modes for FDM printed multi-infill pattern samples. Combining two different infill patterns and layer stacking sequence improves tensile strength for 45° raster orientation samples and decreases tensile strength for 0° raster orientation samples when compared to a single pattern throughout. For 0° raster orientation, stacking sequence with all the layers are deposited parallel to loading direction offers more strength than multi-infill pattern samples. Whereas for 45° raster orientation, stacking sequence with all the layers parallel to loading direction offers lower strength than multi-infill pattern samples.

The current concerns of researchers worldwide are focused on the study of top technologies and materials that have minimal impact on life quality. Thus, merging the most used 3D printing technology, FDM-Fused Deposition Modeling, with biodegradable polymeric materials from renewable resources is one of the current topics in the field of industrial research. The aim of the present study is the analysis of FDM printed samples from biodegradable polymers like Extrudr GreenTec Anthracite, Extrudr BDP Pearl, bioFila Linen and bioFila Silk. The used materials for 3D printing, according to the manufacturer and to the obtained results, from morphological investigations point of view, have a high rate of decomposition into chemical elements that are found naturally in nature. The performed analyses were SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), EDX—Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis, XRD—X-Ray Diffraction Analysis and DSC—Differential Scanning Calorimetry analyses in order to identify their elemental composition, the phase transitions suffered by the materials during heating and aspects regarding the adhesion between layers specific to the additive manufacturing. The obtained results support the researchers by providing valuable information that helps to establish some process parameters (melting temperature, printing direction, etc.) but also to understand the materials behavior that take place during the heating process. From a thermal, morphological and structural point of view, 3D printed biodegradable materials can be used in various fields of activity, being able to replace nonbiodegradable polymers that are so harmful to the environment and health.

Scientists around the world, as well as large companies, are trying to find the best solutions to obtain both more environmentally friendly and sustainable product that responds as accurately as much as possible to the different needs of customers. With these basic ideas, the authors of this paper directed their research towards obtaining samples by additive manufacturing (AM) from biodegradable materials. The paper begins with the presentation of several simulations on the mechanical behavior of printed biodegradable materials, a simulation of heat transfer and highlighting the deformations that occur during the printing process. A comparative study followed between the results of the tensile tests and the orientation of the sample on the printing table, “flat” or “on the edge”. The samples were made of biodegradable materials such as PLA, Impact PLA Gray, Green PLA HD, Extrudr BDP Pearl, Extrudr BDP Flax and Fiber Wood, and results for the bending test are presented. The experimental research plan took into account three input parameters (deposited layer thickness, infilling rate and sample orientation), and the optimum prototyping alternative was proposed in order to obtain a sample that would satisfy mechanical requirements. According to the experiments studies carried out by the authors and not only, the process parameter “sample orientation” on the printing table during the layer’s successive deposition has a great influence on the mechanical characteristics (such as tensile and bending strength, modulus of elasticity and elongation) for the product manufactured by the Fused Deposition Modeling additive technology.

In order to find new ways to ensure sustainable development on a global level, it is essential to combine current top technologies, such as additive manufacturing, with the economic, ecological, and social fields. One objective of this paper refers to wire manufacture such as Arboblend V2 Nature, Arbofill Fichte, and Arboblend V2 Nature reinforced with Extrudr BDP &ldquo, Pearl&rdquo, (BDP&mdash, Biodegradable Plastic) in order to replace the plastic materials. After wire manufacture by extrusion, the diameter accuracy was analyzed compared with the Fiber Wood wire using SEM analyses and also EDAX&mdash, Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis and DSC&mdash, Differential Scanning Calorimetry analyses were done in order to identify their elemental composition and the phase transitions suffered by the materials during heating. Using the samples obtained through the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) method, both crystalline phases and chemical composition information (XRD analysis) were identified, as well was determined the visco-elastic behavior Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA), for the reinforced material and Fiber Wood. The extruded wires have allowed size for the printing equipment, around 1.75 mm with tolerance of &plusmn, 0.05 mm. The wire material diagrams, Arboblend V2 Nature reinforced with Extrudr BDP &ldquo, and Fiber Wood following the calorimetric analysis, presented peaks corresponding to material crystallization, while Arbofill Fichte revealed only the melting temperature. The storage module was almost double in case of Arboblend V2 Nature reinforced with Extrudr BDP &ldquo, compared with Fiber Wood and materials&rsquo, melting temperatures were confirmed by the analyses carried out.

Coating of bio-based polymers with ceramic layer has attracted interest recently, the research topic raising difficulties regarding the technology of obtaining layers that involve very high working temperatures. The study aims to analyses the mechanical, tribological and structural characteristics of the Arboblend V2 Nature biodegradable polymer after the deposition of ceramic microlayers. The micro powders used were Amdry 6420 (Cr2O3), Metco 143 (ZrO2 18TiO2 10Y2O3) and Metco 136F (Cr2O3-xSiO2-yTiO2). The coated samples were obtained by injection molding and the deposition was achieved by using Atmospheric Plasma Spray (APS) method. The results of the related analyses showed that, in general, the deposits of ceramic micro particles increased the material surface characteristics (hardness, scratch resistance, apparent friction coefficient), due to the uniformity of the ceramic coating on the polymeric substrate. Based on these, it was possible to recommend the use of coated bio-based polymer - Arboblend V2 Nature in harsh operating conditions, such as the automotive industry.

The paper aims to investigate the behavior of Arboblend V2 Nature biopolymer samples covered with three ceramic powders, Amdry 6420 (Cr2O3), Metco 143 (ZrO2 18TiO2 10Y2O3) and Metco 136F (Cr2O3-xSiO2-yTiO2). The coated samples were obtained by injection molding, and the micropowder deposition was achieved by using the Atmospheric Plasma Spray (APS) method, with varied thickness layers. The present study will only describe the results for nine-layer deposition because, as the number of layers’ increases, the surface quality and mechanical/thermal characteristics such as wear, hardness and thermal resistance are also increased. The followed determinations were conducted: the adhesion strength, hardness on a microscopic scale by micro-indentation, thermal analysis and structural and morphological analysis. The structural analysis has highlighted a uniform deposition for the ZrO2 18TiO2 10Y2O3 layer, but for the layers that contained Cr2O3 ceramic microparticles, the deposition was not completely uniform. The thermal analysis revealed structural stability up to a temperature of 230 °C, the major degradation of the biopolymer matrix taking place at a temperature around 344 °C. The samples’ crystalline structure as well as the presence of the Cr2O3 compound significantly influenced the micro-indentation and scratch analysis responses. The novelty of this study is given by itself the coating of the Arboblend V2 Nature biopolymer (as base material), with ceramic microparticles as the micropowder coating material. Following the undertaken study, the increase in the mechanical, tribological and thermal characteristics of the samples recommend all three coated biopolymer samples as suitable for operating in harsh conditions, such as the automotive industry, in order to replace plastic materials.

The harmful effects on the environment caused by the overexploitation of fossil resources and their industrial processing have attracted the attention of researchers worldwide. Their interest is not only in the use of biodegradable materials based on renewable natural resources but also in the use of manufacturing and processing technologies that minimize as much as possible the negative footprint left on the natural ecosystem. In the present paper, the thermoplastic material processed using abrasive water jet cutting technology (AWJ) is Arboblend V2 Nature. Thus, both the processed material and the technology closely follow the interests of the researchers. The study aims to obtain surfaces with higher quality than other synthetic polymers by appropriate variation of process parameters (abrasive material flow, traverse speed and pressure). Two methods for determining the roughness were used, one in accordance with the standard and one adopted by the authors in order to render more accurately the surface roughness value. Other output parameters observed were: the amount of material removed, the width of the machined surface, the deviation from the perpendicularity and the inclination angle of the machined surface. The output parameters result confirms the possibility of using the parts obtained by AWJ in engineering applications and not only because the shape deviations fall within the limitations imposed at the industrial level.

Due to the pressing problems of today’s world, regarding both the finding of new, environmentally friendly materials which have the potential to replace classic ones, and the need to limit the accelerated spread of bacteria in hospitals, offices and other types of spaces, many researchers have chosen to develop their work in this field. Thus, biopolymeric materials have evolved so much that they are gradually becoming able to remove fossil-based plastics from major industries, which are harmful to the environment and implicitly to human health. The biopolymer employed in the present study, Arboblend V2 Nature with silver nanoparticle content (AgNP) meets both aspects mentioned above. The main purpose of the paper is to replace several parts and products in operation which exhibit antibacterial action, preventing the colonization and proliferation of bacteria (Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus, by using the submerged cultivation method), but also the possibility of degradation in different environments. The biopolymer characterization followed the thermal behavior of the samples, their structure and morphology through specific analyses, such as TGA (thermogravimetric analysis), DSC (differential scanning calorimetry), SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and XRD (X-ray diffraction). The obtained results offer the possibility of use of said biocomposite material in the medical field because of its antibacterial characteristics that have proved to be positive, and, therefore, suitable for such applications. The thermal degradation and the structure of the material highlighted the possibility of employing it in good conditions at temperatures up to 200 °C. Two types of samples were used for thermal analysis: first, in the form of granules coated with silver nanoparticles, and second, test specimen cut from the sample obtained by injection molding from the coated granules with silver nanoparticles.

This article aims to study the development of new materials with superior mechanical properties using a combination between a biodegradable material such as liquid wood and silver nanoparticles through Physical Vapor Deposition process. An alternative to plastic products made from petroleum is a thermoplastic material built using byproducts of the wood pulp industry. Silver nanoparticles are known to provide antimicrobial properties for surfaces. The main goal is to create a benchmark of materials which can be further exploited in a wide variety of applications in areas such as: medical, dental, bio-engineering and others.

Liquid wood (LW) Arboform® is a novel bio-polymer class of materials consisting in various amounts of lignin, natural fibres, and bio-based additives being a fully biodegradable composite. The full acceptance of LW by industry depends on thermo-mechanical stability as a basic quality condition for engineering applications. The paper aims to investigate the thermal properties and stability of LV3 Nature (LV3) as the uppermost member of Arboform® class of materials under different conditions (i.e. heating rates) both as primary and processed material. The results are discussed in terms of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and infrared (IR) spectrometry analysis. DSC thermograms highlight specific changes in corresponding areas and peak positions revealing the polymer behaviour: higher heating rate results in higher activation energies and delays of both endo and exothermic reactions in the temperature range of applications. The FTIR spectra of primary granules and processed LV3 Arboform® show maintaining of the initial functional molecular groups supporting a positive response of the material towards reuse. SEM investigations confirm liaising of the processed composite: no changes at the matrix/fibres interface were found. The results create opportunities in process technologies and applications development of this lignin matrix composite material as a candidate for thermo-plastics polymers.

Due to the global warming and diminishing petroleum oil reserves the conversion of biomass in useful biodegradable materials represent a tremendous need in terms of economic and environmental problem. During the last years, enormous effort have been sustained by the researchers who tried to develop and improve green (recyclable, biocompatible, and biodegradable) materials from renewable resources strengthening this way the global sustainability. Following this need a new material Arboform – „liquid wood“, that meets all the above conditions was developed by a team of german researchers appearing shortly on the market. This material can be processed like any other plastic material, so no need changing in terms of technological equipment. Since the injection molding is the most widely used process in manufacturing polymer products, unavoidable surface quality problems appear. In order to obtain a clear image of surface sample are analyzed the inherent properties of the used material, injection parameters and conditions using a Talysurf CLI 2000 profilometer. The equipment is able to perform high-accuracy measurements of the surface topography for Arboform L, V3 Nature (A-LW) and Arboform L, V3 Nature Reinforced with Aramid Fibers (A-LWAF) samples. The experimental research was achieved by means of the Taguchi experiment plan, with 6 input parameters (injection pressure, melt temperature, cooling time, screw displacement injection time and injection angle) each of them having two levels of variation. In case of 90 degrees angle injection (samples from 1 and 2 experiments) the dispersion roughness (Ra) measured on east-west direction is lower (26.6% for A-LW and 23.7% respectively for A-LWAF) compared with the roughness measurement on north-south direction. At 0 degrees angle injection the dispersion had the same trend (lower for east-west direction) of the A-LWAF 4 and 6 samples and higher in the east-west direction for 3 and 5 samples of A-LW material studied.

The field of polymeric materials and manufacturing technologies is constantly evolving, offering the possibility to prototype 3D products in a responsible and ecological way, thus aiming to replace on a large scale the filaments of nonbiodegradable synthetic polymers (from fossil resources) with filaments of biodegradable materials, obtained from renewable resources. The paper supports the development mentioned above and follows to characterize biodegradable materials from the mechanical behavior point of view, tensile, bending, and impact tests. Also, the study reflects the influence of the technological parameters on the tensile test obtained results and also aims to optimize the obtained results. The studied materials were Extrudr Green-TEC Anthracite and Extrudr BDP Pearl which according to the obtained basic mechanical results can successfully replace conventional polymers such as Flexible, HIPS, PP and other ones.

One of the biggest challenges facing engineers and designers in the field of additive manufacturing is to constantly develop and promote new products to meet the increasingly varied and demanding needs of customers. They must also “navigate” through a wide variety of technologies and materials available in order to determine the most appropriate solution for their application. The best and easiest way to determine if a particular technology or material is right for an application is to study and understand its behavior. This paper aims to mechanical characterize 3D printed samples from biodegradable materials through tensile, bending, and impact tests but also by determining the mechanical behavior in the dynamic regime and the tribological behavior (friction coefficient and wear). For the obtained results during the tensile test were performed a statistical analysis of the technological parameters’ influence on the output parameters (tensile strength, strain, and modulus of elasticity) and it has been developed and the optimization of these ones. The studied biodegradable thermoplastics were bioFila Linen, bioFila Silk and Fiber Wood which according to the highlighted results can be used in various fields of activity and can easily replacing polymers from fossil resources such as flexible filaments, high impact polystyrene, polypropylene, polypropylene reinforced with short glass fibers, polymers reinforced with metal or wood powder.

It is essential to combine current state-of-the-art technologies such as additive manufacturing with current ecological needs. Due to the increasing demand for non-toxic biodegradable materials and products, human society has been searching for new materials. Consequently, it is compulsory to identify the qualities of these materials and their behavior when subjected to various external factors, to find their optimal solutions for application in various fields. This paper refers to the biodegradable Polylactic acid (PLA)-based filament (commercially known as Extrudr BDP (Biodegradable Plastic) Flax) compared with the biodegradable composite material PLA-lignin filament whose constituent&rsquo, s trade name is Arboblend V2 Nature as a lignin base material and reinforcement with Extrudr BDP Pearl, a PLA based polymer, 3D printed by Fused Deposition Modeling technology. Certain mechanical properties (tensile strength, bending strength and DMA&mdash, Dynamic Mechanical Analysis) were also determined. The tribology behavior (friction coefficient and wear), the structure and the chemical composition of the biodegradable materials were investigated by SEM&mdash, Scanning Electron Microscopy, EDX&mdash, Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis, XRD&mdash, X-Ray Diffraction Analysis, FTIR&mdash, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer and TGA&mdash, Thermogravimetric Analysis. The paper also refers to the influence of technological parameters on the 3D printed filaments made of Extrudr BDP Flax and the optimization those of technological parameters. The thermal behavior during the heating of the sample was analyzed by Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). As a result of the carried-out research, we intend to recommend these biodegradable materials as possible substituents for plastics in as many fields of activity as possible.

During the last decades, there has been an increased interest in the use of lignin-based composites following the ideas of developing green materials for fossil-based raw materials substitution. The biopolymer Arboform is a mixture of lignin, plant fibers, and additives, which is nowadays successfully used in many applications. As a thermoplastic, it can be molded and is therefore also called “liquid wood.” In this paper, we report a study comparing the nanomechanical and tribological properties of Arboform (AR), and Aramid-reinforced Arboform (AR-AF) composite biopolymers. The samples were produced in an industrial-scale injection molding machine. Nanoindentation experiments have revealed that, in both series of biopolymer samples, an increase in temperature or a change in the injection direction from 0 deg to 90 deg produces an increase in hardness. On the other hand, Young's modulus is slightly affected by the increase in temperature, and not affected by the injection angle. Tribological characterization has shown that all samples, except the AR-AF injected at 175 °C, present noticeable wear and have a similar friction coefficients μ ∼ 0.44–0.49 at Hertzian contact pressures p0 between 90 and 130 MPa. Interestingly, the reinforced polymer produced at 175 °C shows no wear and low friction of μ ∼ 0.19 at p0 = 90 MPa. Our results show that the reinforced Arboform biopolymers are a good candidate to replace other polymers in many mechanical and tribological applications.

There are three types of 'liquid wood', Arbofill, Arboblend and Arboform and will replace plastics materials in the near future taking into account the biodegradability and higher properties versus common used plastics materials. In order to get more information about the materials properties of 'liquid wood' the granules and samples obtained by injection molding were studied using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) for Arboform L,V3 Nature–'liquid wood' (A-LW) and Arboform L, V3 Nature reinforced with Aramid Fibers (A-LWAF).In case of A-LW granule studied, the DSC analysis presents that at 97 °C appears an endoderm peak which represents the crystallization of the material, at 175 °C the exoderm peak which means the melting point of the material. After the tested granule cooling period of time this one was tested again and the endoderm peak disappears, which means that crystallization of material disappeared. The melting point of the second test decreases slightly at 174.6 °C. Also, the new test shows that at 61.7 °C the glass transition temperature appears and the melting point slightly decreases. In case of A-LW samples the DSC analyses shows that the melting point increased by 2.77 °C compared to the melting point of Arboform granule. The material behavior is more or less the same without the crystallization area.

Petroleum-based plastic materials constitute a major environmental problem due to their low biodegradability and accumulation in various environments. Therefore, searching for novel biodegradable plastics is received particular attention. Our studied material, “Liquid wood” produced from lignin, natural fibres and natural additives, is completely biodegradable in natural environment, in normal conditions. This paper presents the behaviour of Arboform and Arboform reinforced with Aramidic Fibers tensile test analysis. Experimental data show that the tensile strength reached an average value of 15.8 MPa, the modulus of elasticity after tests is 3513.3MPA for Arboform and for the reinforcement the tensile strength is 23.625MPa, the modulus of elasticity after tests is 3411.5MPA, the materials present a brittle behaviour. The high mechanical properties of newly developed material, better than of other ordinary plastics, recommend it as a potential environment-friendly substituent for synthetic plastics, which are present in all fields of activity.

The honing is one of the most common processes used for finishing, especially for vehicles motors, ships motors etc. The national and international researches in the field were developed long time ago. They regarded the establishment of some proper working conditions for actual situations, based on the type of the processed material, the type of the abrasive material and on the working equipment. The objective of this research was to establish optimal working parameters: the spindle speed and the linear-alternative speed of the hone and the processing period in order to obtain the desired values of roughness, necessary for the proper functioning of the motors.

The plastic products contribute to environmental pollution. Replacing the plastic materials with biodegradable materials with superior properties is an absolute necessity and important research direction for the near future. The first steps in this regard were the creation of composite materials containing natural fibers with positive effects on the environment that have penetrated in different fields. The bioplastics and biocomposites made from natural fibers is a topical solution. The next step was made towards obtaining biodegradable and recyclable materials based on cellulose, lignin and no carcinogens. In this category fall the “liquid wood” with a use up to five times without affecting the mechanical properties. “Liquid wood” is a high quality thermoplastic biocomposite. “Liquid wood” is a biopolymer composite divided in three categories, ARBOFORM®, ARBOBLEND® and ARBOFILL®, which have differed composition in terms of lignin percentage, being delivered by Tecnaro, as granules, [1]. The paper’s research was focus on Arboform L V3 Nature and Arboform L V3 Nature reinforced with aramid fiber. In the experimental plan were taken into account six parameters (Dinj - direction of injection [°]; Ttop - melting temperature [°C]; Pinj - injection pressure [MPa] Ss - speed [m/min]; tinj – injection time [s] and tc - cooling time [s]) each with two levels, research carried on by Taguchi methodology. Processing Taguchi method allowed both Taguchi setting work parameters influence on storage modulus and damping as the size and influence their ranking. Experimental research concerning the influence technological parameters on storage modulus of samples obtained by injection from Arboform L V3 Nature yielded an average of 6055MPa and descending order as follows: Trac, Ss, Pinj, Dinj and Ttop. The average of model for reinforced material was 6419MPa and descending order of parameters influence such as: Dinj, Trac, Ttop, tinj, Ss and Pinj.

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) is a well-established method for grain refinement in metallic materials by large shear plastic deformation, being the most promising and effective severe plastic deformation (SPD) technique. ECAP is a discontinuous process, so the billet removal implies a new development of the procedure: the new sample pushes out the previous sample. In resuming the process the head and the tail ends of the work piece which becomes strongly distorted and receiving different amount of strain have to be removed. Due to the path difference in material flow between upper and lower region of the outlet channel, a non-uniform strain and stress distribution across the width of the workpiece leaving the plastic deformation zone (PDZ) is achieved. A successful ECAP requires surpassing two obstacles: the necessary load level which directly affects tools and a favorable stress distribution so the material withstanding the accumulated strain of repeated deformation. Under back pressure (BP), materials have shown to be able to withstand more passes. As soon as the billet passes the PDZ along the bisector plane of the two channels, the compressive mean stress changes to tensile (leading to crack initiation), while in the presence of BP, a negative (compressive) stress is applied during the process. In this paper a comparative tridimensional finite element analysis (FEA) is performed to evaluate the behavior of a difficult-to-work Al-Mg alloy depending on tools geometry and process parameters. The results in terms of load level and strain distribution show the influence of the punch geometry and BP on the material behavior.

The main substances with an important effect over any company development are the materials which require simple or complex manufacturing processes. In the near future the using of recyclable materials will become an extremely important factor in all of activity fields. Therefore, liquid wood, due to its biodegradability and mechanical properties superior to other plastics, could replace some plastic materials soon. In case of arboform the granules made from: lignocellulosic fibers (combination of cellulose, lignin and wood polyoses); natural Polymers: lignin, polyester; natural resins/waxes: aliphatic and aromatic ketones, alcohols, carbonic acids, lactones and polycycles in monomeric, oligomeric and polymeric form. In case of arbofill it made from petrochemical polymers like polypropylene or polyethylene, reinforced with natural fibres like hemp, flax or wood. The arboblend contains different biopolymers like e.g. polyhydroxialkanoate, polyester, ingeo TM, lignin, starch, cellulose, organic additives, natural resins or waxes and natural reinforcing fibers, [. Because the injection process of arboform L, V3 Nature was very difficult this material was reinforced with 5% aramid fibers. The properties of liquid wood are very important to be known take into account the possibility to find some plastic materials for replacing. Therefore the paper presents some aspects of research concerning the impact resistance of these materials. For that was used the injection process to obtain the samples with six input parameters inside of experimental plan. Each factor had two level and was used the Taguchi methodology. The results obtained and the plastic materials that could be replaced are as follow: arbofill Fichte: (11-15) kJ/mp and it could be replace the PC GF 30, PPE GF 30, PEEK GF 30 (Poly Ether Ether Ketone Glass Filled), PEEK CF 30 (Poly Ether Ether Ketone Carbon Filled), PEI GF 30 (Poly Ether Imide); arboblend V2 Nature: (20-26) kJ/mp and it could be replace the PA 66 GF 30, PA 11 GF 30, PC GF 30, PP GF 30, PMMA, PPE GF 30, PEEK GF 30 (Poly Ether Ether Ketone Glass Filled), PEEK CF 30 (Poly Ether Ether Ketone Carbon Filled), PEI GF 30 (Poly Ether Imide) and arboform L, V3 Nature reinforced with aramid fibers: (8-14) kJ/mp and it could be replace the PC GF 30 (30% glass fiber), PVC, PPE GF 30, PEEK GF 30 (Poly Ether Ether Ketone Glass Filled), PEEK CF 30 (Poly Ether Ether Ketone Carbon Filled), PEI GF 30 (Poly Ether Imide).