The Mechanical And Physical Properties Of Pineapple Leaf Kenaf Fibre Reinforced Vinyl Ester Hybrid Composites

Megat Mohd Asri, Puteri Nur Aisyah (2019) The Mechanical And Physical Properties Of Pineapple Leaf Kenaf Fibre Reinforced Vinyl Ester Hybrid Composites. Project Report. UTeM, Melaka, Malaysia. (Submitted)

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Abstract

Pineapple leaf fibre and kenaf fibre are natural fibre that can potentially be used as a reinforcement material in polymer composites for different applications. Pineapple leaf fibre seems to be among least studied fibres as reinforcement in composites due to large affinity to water and poor interfacial fibre-matrix adhesion encountered to it. Kenaf bast fibres possess striking mechanical properties. Combination of pineapple leaf fibre and kenaf fibre gives outstanding properties to mechanical and physical properties of the fibre composites. This study investigate the physical, mechanical and also morphological characteristics of pineapple leaf / kenaf fibre reinforced vinyl ester hybrid composites. Several steps have been done to evaluate the physical, mechanical and morphological behavior of natural composite between pineapple leaf fibre and kenaf fibre. Initially, pineapple leaf / kenaf fibre was arranged according to certain parameter. The fibre was treated with alkalization treatment for treated fibre composite and samples were prepared using hand lay-up method. The test conducted to determine physical properties of the pineapple leaf / kenaf fibre reinforced vinyl ester hybrid composite were density, water absorption and moisture content. Tensile test and flexural test were conducted to determine mechanical properties of the hybrid composite. Treated fibre dramatically enhanced most of the properties of vinyl ester hybrid composite. The results revealed that alkalization treatment of fibre changed its chemical properties. The treated fibre improved the physical and mechanical properties of pineapple leaf / kenaf fibre reinforced vinyl ester hybrid composite. The morphological examination of neat polymer, treated and untreated fibre composite-reinforced vinyl esters showed less fibre pull-out from the matrix was observed for treated fibre composite. This observation gives valuable indication of the interfacial interlocking between fibre and matrix which enhanced tensile properties of the composites.

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