Flexural Properties of Chopped Kenaf and Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites Embedded with Carbon Nanotubes
Ummu Raihanah Hashim1, Aidah Jumahat2, Nur Syarah Iffah Azizi3
1Ummu Raihanah Hashim, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia.
2Aidah Jumahat*, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia.
3Nur Syarah Iffah Azizi, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia.
Manuscript received on November 20, 2019. | Revised Manuscript received on November 28, 2019. | Manuscript published on 30 November, 2019. | PP: 6842-6846 | Volume-8 Issue-4, November 2019. | Retrieval Number: D5202118419/2019©BEIESP | DOI: 10.35940/ijrte.D5202.118419
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: An experimental study was performed to investigate the flexural behaviour of chopped kenaf and carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites embedded with carbon nanotubes (CNT). The fibre content in the composites was 10 wt.% with three different CNT loadings, which were 0.5wt.%, 1.0wt.%, and 1.5wt.%. The CNT were dispersed in the epoxy resin using the mechanical stirrer and three-roll mill machine and mixed with the chopped fibres before being poured into the designated mould. Three-point bending tests were conducted with a specimen thickness and width of 4 mm and 10 mm, respectively, and a standard specimen length of 20% longer than the support span. The flexural test results showed that the chopped carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) with 0.5wt.% CNT exhibited the highest flexural strength and modulus (42 MPa and 2.9 GPa, respectively) compared to other composites with 1.0wt.% and 1.5wt.% CNT loading. The chopped kenaf fibre reinforced polymer (KFRP) composite with 0.5wt.% CNT loading showed the highest increase in the flexural strength and modulus, at 30 MPa and 2.8 GPa, respectively. Hence, it was concluded that the addition of CNT improved the flexural properties and 0.5 wt.% CNT was the ideal loading to enhance the flexural properties of chopped fibre-reinforced polymer composites.
Keywords: Carbon Fibre, Carbon Nanotubes, Chopped Fibre, Flexural Properties, FRP Composites, Kenaf Fibre.
Scope of the Article: Metallurgy.