Umumnya, bahan komposit adalah bahan yang terdiri daripada dua atau lebih bahan yang berbeza yang menghasilkan bahan dengan sifat yang lebih baik berbanding dengan bahan penyusunnya sendiri. Bahan komposit digunakan secara komersial dalam pelbagai industri kerana kemampuannya untuk menentukan sifat yang ditentukan, seperti nisbah kekuatan-ke-berat yang tinggi, rintangan kakisan, rintangan keausan dan lain-lain. Secara tradisinya, gentian konvensional seperti gentian kaca digunakan sebagai bahan penguat tetapi sejak dekad yang lalu pencemaran dari fabrikasi mereka tinggi sehingga alternatif dicari sekarang. Gentian semula jadi boleh menjadi penyelesaian kerana ia menawarkan penjimatan kos dan pengurangan ketumpatan jika dibandingkan dengan gentian kaca. Walaupun kekuatan gentian semula jadi tidak sebesar kaca, sifat khasnya dapat dibandingkan. Dalam kajian ini, sifat mekanikal sandwic komposit gentian semula jadi menggunakan kelapa dan serat sawit harus dianalisis dan dinilai secara menyeluruh. Prestasi mereka dibandingkan dengan gentian kaca di mana variasi tikar helaian cincang diguna pakai kerana gentian kelapa dan kelapa sawit adalah jenis tidak putus-putus. Setelah spesimen dihasilkan, ujian lenturan tiga titik lenturan dilakukan untuk menentukan sifat mekanik mereka. Hasil daripada kajian ini mendapati bahawa kaedah penyusunan tangan basah kurang sesuai untuk membuat panel sandwich gentian semula jadi. Selain itu, panel sandwich gentian kelapa sawit memberikan sifat lenturan terbaik dibandingkan panel sandwic gentian kelapa dan kaca. Namun demikian, panel sandwich gentian kelapa sawit didapati mempunyai kekakuan yang rendah dibandingkan dengan panel sandwich gentian kaca dan membuatkan ia lebih senang untuk deformasi. Akhir sekali, cadangan untuk kajian akan dating disertakan supaya untuk menyenangkan dan meningkatkan kualiti.
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Generally, composite material is a material that is made up from two or more different materials that produces a material with enhanced properties compared to its constituent materials on itself. Composite materials are commercially used in various industries due to their ability of tailored specified properties, such as high strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, wear resistance and etc. Traditionally, conventional fibers such as glass fibers are used as reinforcement material but over the past decade pollution from their fabrication is high so an alternative is sought after nowadays. Natural fibers can prove to be the solution as it offers cost saving and reduction in density when compared to glass fibers. Even though the strength of natural fibers is not as great as glass, the specific properties are comparable. In this study, mechanical properties of natural fiber sandwich composites using coconut and palm fiber are to be analyzed and evaluated thoroughly. Their performance is to be compared to that of glass fiber where the variation used is chopped strand mat as the natural fiber which is palm and coconut fiber is processed in to mats in the form of short/discontinuous fiber fibers same as chopped strand mats. After the specimens are produced, flexural test three-point bending is carried out for determination of their mechanical properties. The outcomes that were gathered from this project was that wet hand lay-up is not suitable for fabrication of natural fiber sandwich panel as several attempts led to resin-starved sandwich panels. Other than that, the palm fiber sandwich panel have better flexural performance when compared to coconut fiber and glass fiber sandwich panel. However, the palm fiber sandwich panel deforms easier compared to glass fiber sandwich panel as it is less stiff than it. Lastly, recommendations for future work are listed to better the quality for next time similar research or study are conducted.
Mechanical properties of natural fiber sandwich composites / Mohammad Irwan Shah Mohammad Kamal Kulasegaram