Weight Fraction Effect of Sugar Palm Fiber as Polypropylene-Elastomer Matrix Reinforcement on Fire Resistance of Hybrid Composite

Abstract

Indonesia is one of the countries with abundant availability of palm fiber (Arenga pinnata), polypropylene (PP), elastomer. By utilizing these three types of materials, it is hoped that they can become new composite materials that have good physical properties and characteristics and are useful in engineering applications. PP and elastomer materials used in this study act as a composite matrix and are reinforced by palm fiber (Arenga pinnata). Composites are generally a new material by combining two or more different materials to produce a new material with better properties than the constituent material itself. This study aims to determine the value of the fire resistance of PP composites and elastomers with sugar palm fiber (Arenga pinnata) reinforcement with various weight fractions of 20 % (80:20), 30 % (70:30), and 40 % (60:40). Based on the fire resistance test results of hybrid polypropylene and elastomeric composites with sugar palm fiber reinforcement (Arenga pinnata) showed that the composite with a fraction of 20 % (80:20) had the lowest linear combustion rate of 0.128 mm/minute. In comparison, the composite with a weight fraction of 40 % (60:40) obtained the highest linear combustion rate of 0.202 mm/minute. For the weight loss rate test, the composite with a weight fraction of 20 % (80:20) got the highest result of 0.759 gram/minute, while the composite with a weight fraction of 40 % (60:40) got the lowest weight loss rate of 0.480 gram/minute.