The Comparison on Mechanical Bonding Properties of Untreated Coconut Fiber towards Synthetic Fiber for Fiberglass Boat Building

Abstract

The development of high performance materials made from natural resources is increasing worldwide. The interest in natural fiber reinforced polymer composite materials is rapidly growing both in terms of their industrial applications and fundamental research. They are renewable, cheap, completely or partially recyclable, and biodegradable. The coconut fiber can be a potential candidate to replace the industrial core and foam which its application are worldwide and it is used to increase the thickness of the fiberglass boat. In this research, three types of testing panel are constructed by using 10 mm of Coconut Fiber, 3D Core Foam and Infusion Grooved PVC Foam as the sandwich core. The resin infusion method which is produce quality final products have been used. The findings be obtained by conducting two testing methods, for the Flatwise Tensile Strength testing, the specimens taken from Coconut Fiber product yielded a higher value of strength which is 3.005 MPa compared to the specimens taken from Infusion Grooved PVC Foam and 3D Core Foam which is 2.963 MPa and 1.264 MPa respectively. For the Flatwise Compressive Strength testing, the specimens taken from the Coconut Fiber product had higher value of compressive stress compared to the value of specimens taken from Infusion Grooved PVC Foam and 3D Core Foam which is 29.66 MPa, 2.58 MPa and 4.68 MPa respectively. This research has proved that the Coconut Fiber is quite suitable to become as one of the laminating schedule for the construction of the fiberglass boat hull.