Effect of Screw Rotation Speed on Mechanical Properties of Extruded PLA/Kenaf Nanocomposites

Abstract

Extrusion is one of established methods of polymer processing with fibre and consequently disperses fibre inside polymer. Different speed shows different behaviour of fibre dispersion. This study was conducted to produce composites from polylactic acid and kenaf by extrusion method. Kenaf bast and core was undergone chemical treatment with sodium hydroxide (6% w/w) followed by hydrochloric acid. Then, kenaf bast and core was mechanically beaten to reduce the fibre size. PLA and kenaf fibre (bast and core) was mixed by extrusion process with 3 different rotation speeds (60, 70 and 80 rpm). Kenaf bast composite and kenaf core composite was referred as KBC and KCC respectively. Flexural and impact strength was done to investigate the effect of different screw rotation speed on KBC and KCC. KBC and KCC processed with 60 rpm rotation speed shows better performance on flexural strength. For impact strength, KBC with 70 rpm and KCC with 60 rpm rotation speed have higher impact values.

Physical, Mechanical, and Thermal Properties and Characterization of Natural Fiber Composites Reinforced Poly(Lactic Acid): Miswak (Salvadora Persica L.) Fibers

“…As it was discovered, PLA/kenaf bast and PLA/kenaf core exhibit improved results on flexural strength of 60 rpm rotation speed, and impact strength higher value was measured with PLA/kenaf bast and PLA/kenaf core at 70 rpm rotation speed. Jaafar et al [55] investigated the varying speeds of extrusion (60, 70, and 80 rpm) and showed various behavior of fiber dispersion. The effect of screw speeds of 40, 80, and 140 rpm extrude on the mechanical characteristics of PLA/HNT composite has been examined by Venkatesh et al [56].…”