UTeM Conference Systems, Malaysia University Conference Engineering Technology

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EFFECT OF BAMBOO FIBRE LENGTH ON THE PROPERTIES OF BAMBOO FIBRE/POLYPROPYLENE COMPOSITE
Mohd Zulkefli Selamat

Last modified: 2014-10-29

Abstract


The natural fibre plays an important role in developing biodegradable FRP to resolve the current ecological and environmental problems. The utilization of bamboo fibres (BF) as reinforcement in FRP composite materials has increased tremendously and this has undergone a high-tech revolution in recent years as a response to the increasing demand for developing biodegradable, sustainable, and recyclable materials. Therefore, in this study, BF was used as a reinforcing material in a polymer matrix that is polypropylene (PP). This research studies the effects of BF length (4, 3 and 2 cm) and BF loading on the mechanical properties of BF/PP composite. Various ratios of BF/PP composite were analyzed and the ratios of composition in the BF/PP composite was fixed at 70:30, 60:40 and 50:50. An alkaline treatment was conducted to extract thin bamboo fibre bundles and enhance the BF properties before the formation process of BF/PP composite using hot press. The mechanical properties of BF/PP composite were determined using tensile test, flexure test, hardness test, density measurement and macrostructure analysis. The results show that the 2 cm fibre length showed the best mechanical properties because it gives the optimal results as compares to other FB length of 3 cm and 4 cm. Mechanical properties of samples decreases with increasing fibre length. Meanwhile, for BF loading of 50:50 in composition ratio (BF/PP), the best mechanical properties than 60:40 and 70:30 composition ratios.


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