Investigation of Tensile Properties of the Eco-Board of Hybrid Composite that Consist Of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) Fiber Added with Rice Husk

Abstract

This project focuses on the oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fibre that be added with rice husk (RH) as an alternative raw material to replace wood in a several types of industries. ASTM D3039 standard for tensile test was used to design and compose a composite of EFB fiber reinforced rice husk. In this study, the specimen were be created by the compression method based on the numerous ratio that be chosen which is specimen A, pure EFB, specimen B (93.3g EFB: 6.7g RH), Specimen C (86.6g EFB: 13.4g RH) and specimen D (66.7g EFB: 33.3g RH). The objective of this research is to identify the tensile properties of the Eco-board of hybrid composite and to determine the best properties to be introduced to the industry. The failure pattern and fractography failure mode were investigated using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The tensile test was performed to characterize the hybrid composite properties using a GOTECH/AI-7000M Electronic Mechanical Testing Machine. Result showed that the higher the rice husk added to the EFB fiber, the higher its tensile strength up to certain ratio. As the conclusion, the rice husk help the EFB fiber to increase strength however at the optimum value ratio where the best properties of hybrid composite is specimen C with 9.685 MPa and suitable for many application.