ANALISIS KEKUATAN MEKANIK KOMPOSIT HYBRID KENAF GLASS DENGAN METODE HAND LAY UP DAN PRESS MOLDING

Abstract

Today there has been a lot of increasing interest in the use of composites using natural fibers because the environment is conscious of consumers to preserve nature. The strength of natural fibers is usually very limited and to improve it is done by using chemical modification techniques. There are several methods commonly used to make composites, two of which are hand lay up and press molding methods. Impact and flexural test each using ASTM D 6110 and ASTM D790 standards. Prior to impact test and flexural test, all test specimens were subjected to heating and immersion treatment. From the results of impact test for composites that use hand lay ups that have been heated for 15 days at 0,0201 Joule/mm2, while for composites that use heated press molding at 0,0685 Joule/mm2. For impact test using hand lay ups that have been immersed for 15 days the impact strength value is 0,0330 Joule/mm2, while for composites using press molding that has been immersed for 15 days is 0,0689 Joule/mm2. For the results of flexural test for composites that use hand lay ups that have been heated for 15 days is 15,177 MPa, while for composites using heated press molding is 68,476 MPa. For flexural test using hand lay ups that have been soaked for 15 days the flexural strength value is 27,261 MPa, while for composites using press molding that has been immersed for 15 days is 68,639 Mpa. From the results obtained it can be concluded that to make a composite glass kenaf hybrid press molding method is better to use when compared to using the hand lay up method because the mechanical strength of the composite making process with the press molding method is better than using the hand lay up method.