The performance of mengkuang leaf fiber reinforced low density polyethylene composites

Abstract

The performance of mengkuang leaf fiber (MLF) reinforced low density polyethylene (LDPE) composites with different fiber volume and different mesh sizes were studied. The fibre weight percentage used in the research were 10%, 20%, and 30% and for different fiber size were <0.5 mm, 0.5-1 mm, and 1-2 mm. The extrusion and hot compression molding were used to fabricate the specimen testing. The mechanical testing performed were impact and flexural test which follows the ASTM standards D790-10 and Izod D256. It was observed that by increasing the fiber volume and fiber size, the flexural strength and the flexural modulus were increased. However the impact strength shows different results for fiber length and fibre content where the impact strength increases with fibre length but decreases with the increase of fiber content. It can be concluded that the 30% fibre content is the optimum fibre loading for the MLF-LDPE composite with the flexural strength of 12.31 MPa, flexural modulus of 378.88 MPa and impact strength of 589.86 J/m whereby the 1.0-2.0 mm fibre length is the best fibre size for the MLF-LDPE composite with the flexural strength of 12.86 MPa, flexural modulus of 267.76 MPa and impact strength of 1511.57 J/m. In future studies fibres should undergo surface modification to increase the available surface area for reaction to increase the strength of the composite by better mechanical interlocking.

Toughness analysis of pineapple leaves fiber composite as alternative material for SNI helmet

“…This can happen because the larger the volume fraction of the pineapple leaves fiber causes the matrix be less and less, so that the bond between the matrix and the fiber will be weaker which can lead to the emergence of a lot of clumpsof pineapple leaves fiber and the fiber cannot spread well in the matrix. This is consistent with previous research which stated the decrease in impact strength when increasing the filler content was due to the interfacial interaction between the matrix and filler was weak [15]. These results indicate that differences in the volume fraction variation of pineapple leaves fiber greatly influence the value of the composite impact strength.…”

Effect of liquid smoke on surface morphology and tensile strength of Sago Fiber

“…In recent years, natural fibers have been widely studied by experts as industrial materials such as mengkuang fibers, palm fibers, akaa (corypha) fibers, king pineapple leaf fibers, coconut fibers, carica papaya fibers, albizia amara fibers, and juncus effuses L fibers [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. This study discusses the treatment of Sago fiber (SF) using acetic acid in liquid smoke from coconut shell which is more eco-friendly than other alkali treatment.…”

Performance Evaluation of Composite from Recycled Polypropylene Reinforced with Mengkuang Leaf Fiber

“…They concluded that an increase in MFL loading resulted in an increase in Young's modulus but a decrease in tensile strength. In another work, Halim et al [21] studied the flexural and impact properties of low density polyethylene reinforced with MLF. The fiber weight percentage used were 10%, 20% and 30% with fiber length of less than 0.5 mm, 0.5-1 mm and 1-2 mm.…”

“…The presence of maleic anhydride polyethylene (MAPE) or maleic anhydride polypropylene (MAPP) could enhance the interfacial bonding between the fiber and matrix [25,26]. Using the same range of fiber weight percentage and fiber length as Halim et al [21], Hamdan et al [27] investigated tensile, flexural and impact properties with and without MAPE. They concluded that both volume fraction and fiber length did not improve tensile properties but improve flexural strength significantly.…”