Mechanical Properties of Palm Fiber Reinforced Polyester Composite Based on Different Weight Ratio of Matrix and Fiber

This paper presents the study of the mechanical and morphological properties of palm fiber reinforced unsaturated polyester (UPR/PF) composite based on different weight ratio of matrix and fiber. Unsaturated polyester was selected as the matrix and palm fibers extracted from Empty Fruit Bunch was selected as the reinforcing fibers for the composite. Six composite plates with varying fiber weight loading of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 40 wt% were fabricated using the hot-press technique. The tensile strength and tensile modulus showed an increasing trend as the fiber weight loading increased. The composite with 40 wt% fiber weight loading yields the highest tensile strength, while the composite with 25 wt% fiber weight loading shows the highest tensile modulus. The tensile testing results were backed further by the analyzing the surface topography and morphological properties of the fractured area of the tensile specimens. Furthermore, the onset temperature, peak degradation temperature and total weight percentage degraded of all 6 composites were also analyzed by using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).