Mechanical properties of a coconut fiber/ recycled polypropylene composite sandwich structure fabricated using FDM printing

Nazaruddin, Nasrin Qistina (2024) Mechanical properties of a coconut fiber/ recycled polypropylene composite sandwich structure fabricated using FDM printing. Project Report. Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Melaka, Malaysia. (Submitted)

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Abstract

Natural fibers has been on the rise due to the increasing environmental impact from synthetic fibers Parallel to it, Recycled Polypropylene is a recycled thermoplastic has a lot of application such as FDM printing as a filament while also having many mechanical properties, being ecological friendly and cheaper to manufacture. Thus, combining these two into a composite filament results in a fiber with their best properties all in one, emphasizing its reduced environmental footprint. Furthermore, thermoplastic fibers used in FDM printing tends to be brittle, so the coconut fiber/Recycled Polypropylene add on compensates for this weakness, although the mechanical properties of the coconut fiber/Recycled Polypropylene must be further studied regarding FDM printing. The steps to produce coconut fiber/Recycled Polypropylene composite include the mixing of the raw materials in a hotpress machine, then inserting it into a single screw extruder to fabricate the filament for FDM printing, after which will be used to print a Honeycomb Sandwich Structure (HCSS) for testing tensile and flexural strength. The results obtained were not optimal, as the material obtained only presented a 1% wt higher than control sample, whilst the literature states a 5% wt increase. This discrepancy most likely happened due to the mishandling of the fibers during the wash and the HCSS FDM printer defects. In conclusion, this study made a contribution for better fiber care but nevertheless needs to be further studied.

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