PENGARUH VARIASI PERLAKUAN PANAS SERAT GELAS TERHADAP SIFAT MEKANIS DAN SIFAT FISIS KOMPOSIT HIBRID KENAF/GELAS/PVC
Abstract
Composites are materials that are widely used in industries where car interior is one of the applications. The composites were fabricated Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) matrix reinforced with hybrid kenaf and E-glass fibers. The use of natural fiber in composites is expected to reduce negative effects of composites using E-glass fiber reinforcement, which is not biodegradable. The purpose of this study is to produce PVC composite reinforced with hybrid kenaf and E-glass fibers. The E-glass fibers were heat-treated at various temperatures and heat treatment temperature on the physical and mechanical properties of the composites.
Kenaf fiber was immersed sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution for 4 hours in order to improve the mechanical properties of the fiber, while the E-glass fiber was heat-treated using a muffle furnace at 300 ° C, 400 ° C and 500 ° C for 20 minutes. The ratio of fiber to matrix was 20:80 (weight%), while the composition of kenaf and E-glass fibers was in % weight (50:50). The composites were fabricated using a hot press technique at setting temperature of 160° C for 10 minutes. Bending test was done according to ASTM D790 and water absorption capacity was using ASTM D570. The fracture structure of the bending specimens were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscope (OM, Olympus SZ61TR).
The result shows that the hybrid Kenaf/E-glass fiber/PVC heat treatment at 400 ° C have the highest bending strength of 87.948 MPa and the elasticity modulus of 1.98 GPa. These results were explained from the results of the characterization of the fault structure with SEM and macro photos that show a better fiber bond with the matrix. However, the distribution of hybrid fibers in the matrix is still uneven.