Abstract
In this research, the physical, mechanical and morphological properties of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) mat/woven kenaf fabric-reinforced epoxy composites have been investigated. The oil palm EFB/woven kenaf fabrics were varied, with weight ratios of 50/0 (T1), 35/15 (T2), 25/25 (T3), 15/35 (T4) and 0/50 (T5). The composites were fabricated using a simple hand lay-up technique followed by hot pressing. The result obtained shows that an increase in kenaf fiber content exhibited higher tensile and flexural properties. On the other hand, the opposite trend was observed in the impact strength of hybrid composites, where an increase in kenaf fiber content reduced the impact strength. This can be corroborated with the physical properties analysis, where a higher void content, water absorption and thickness swelling were observed for pure oil palm EFB (T1) composites compared to other samples. The scanning electron microscopy analysis results clearly show the different failure modes of the tensile fractured samples. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA and shows significant differences between the obtained results.
Highlights
In recent years, the incorporation of natural fibers in polymer composites has received much attention from researchers and various industries due to their superior mechanical performance.This trend has led to the use of natural fibers for reinforcement rather than relying on synthetic fibers [1].Natural fibers, including kenaf, coir, oil palm, banana, kapok flax, hemp, jute, and sisal, exhibit superior mechanical properties compared to synthetic fibers
T4hybrid composites exhibit a higher strength with a value of 55.7 MPa among the hybrid composites; these values are close to the T5 composite but, in the tensile modulus, are shown to be slightly lower than T3 hybrid composites with a value of 2972.8 MPa
Inand the Discussion case of bi-layered composites, the load from the kenaf fiber mat is not directly transferred to the oil palm fibers, which leads to gradual failure during the loading process
Summary
The incorporation of natural fibers in polymer composites has received much attention from researchers and various industries due to their superior mechanical performance. Natural fibers, including kenaf, coir, oil palm, banana, kapok flax, hemp, jute, and sisal, exhibit superior mechanical properties compared to synthetic fibers. Kenaf fiber exhibits good mechanical properties, a low density, which is nonabrasive during processing, a good specific strength and compatibility with polymers such as epoxy and phenolic resin. Rozman et al [16] investigated the mechanical properties of oil palm/glass fiber hybrid composites and found that increasing the oil palm fiber content (10%, 30% and 40%) in the matrix reduced the tensile strength and enhanced the modulus. The present research investigates the mechanical, morphological and physical properties of randomly oriented oil palm EFB mat/woven kenaf fabric epoxy composites
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