Abstract
Biomass-based plastics are considered to be one of the most important derivatives of biomass. By using the softening and self-adhesive properties of woody biomass, several studies have been conducted on molding methods for thermo-fluid wood. Little is known about the flow characteristics of thermo-fluid wood. In this study, experiments on hot extrusion in capillaries are conducted to clarify the viscous property of thermo-fluid wood powder. The following results are obtained. As the temperature and water content decrease, it becomes harder for the biomass sample to become soft, and thus the hot extrusion cannot be performed. From the relationship between wall shear stress and wall shear rate, it is found that the power index of wall shear rate is below unity, and therefore the thermo-fluid wood powder behaves as a nonNewtonian pseudo-plastic fluid. The experimental correlation of the apparent viscosity of thermo-fluid wood powder is proposed, and the apparent viscosity can be estimated by using the present correlation with an accuracy of ±50 %.
