Wear and Mechanical Behavior of Wood Fiber/ <scp>PLA</scp> Composites in Short‐Term Hydrothermal Environment

ABSTRACT The effect of four wood fibers (Rosewood, White oak, Black walnut, Classic birch)/PLA composites was studied, which were prepared by 3D printing technology. Considering the actual service environment, the short‐term hydrothermal test was performed, and the wear and mechanical behavior of four wood fibers/PLA composites were characterized. The characterization results indicated that the Rosewood fiber/PLA composite had better mechanical properties than the other wood fibers; the addition of wood fiber can improve its wear resistance, deformation resistance and water resistance ability. The improvement of key indicators can be observed by the surface microstructure and cross‐sectional microstructure morphology, Stable and stronger interfacial adhesion resulted in better deformation and heat resistance ability. However, after short‐term hydrothermal aging, these obvious interfacial defects led to the decline of wear resistance and deformation resistance ability. There are a lot of gaps between the fiber and matrix, which raised an increase in water absorption. These data are beneficial for the application of wood fibers in composites with PLA matrix.