Investigation on the Mechanical Properties of Coconut Leaf Stalk Fibres Reinforced Composites

ABSTRACT

The use of coconut leaf stalk fibers in composites has rarely been investigated. This study focuses on the use of Malayan Dwarf coconut leaf stalk fibers as reinforcement in a polyester matrix. After extracting the fibers, the optimum concentration of sodium hydroxide for their mercerization was determined. This was, firstly, done through tensile, contact angle, FTIR, and SEM tests. They were supplemented by preliminary tensile tests which were performed on composites, with 0.5% fiber content (by weight). The selection of the optimum mercerization process led to the production of the composites for further investigations. Two types of plain weave arrangement (single layer and multiple layers) of the fiber reinforcements were considered, with increasing fiber loading. For the mercerization process, 5% sodium hydroxide treatment was found to produce composites with better mechanical properties. The composite, with the single layer arrangement and 1.5% fiber loading, was found to have the highest tensile (46 MPa) and flexural (149 MPa) strength. Two-way ANOVA was used to confirm that the means of the strengths, of the various types of composites tested were not the same. The results of this study are expected to lead to a more sustainable use of waste coconut leaves.

摘要

椰子叶茎纤维在复合材料中的应用很少被研究. 这项研究的重点是使用马来亚矮椰子叶茎纤维作为聚酯基体的增强材料. 提取纤维后，确定了用于纤维丝光的氢氧化钠的最佳浓度. 这首先是通过拉伸、接触角、FTIR和SEM测试来完成的. 对纤维含量为0.5%（按重量计）的复合材料进行的初步拉伸试验对其进行了补充. 最佳丝光工艺的选择导致了复合材料的生产，以供进一步研究. 随着纤维负载的增加，考虑了两种类型的平纹组织（单层和多层）纤维增强物. 对于丝光工艺，发现5%氢氧化钠处理可以产生具有更好机械财产的复合材料. 发现具有单层排列和1.5%纤维负载的复合材料具有最高的拉伸（46MPa）和弯曲（149MPa）强度. 使用双向方差分析来确认测试的各种类型的复合材料的强度平均值不相同. 这项研究的结果有望使废弃椰子叶得到更可持续的利用.

KEYWORDS:

• Weave arrangement
• mercerization
• tensile strength
• flexural strength
• contact angle

关键词:

• 编织排列
• 丝光处理
• 抗拉强度
• 弯曲强度
• 接触角

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).