Influence of Mengkuang Fiber Orientation on the Strength of Its Composite

Natural composites have been used in various types of applications in industries. It contains of resin, which is reinforced by natural fiber. For this final year project, natural composite is produced from mengkuang fiber and epoxy resins. This paper will discuss about the progress of producing the mengkuang filled composite. Extraction of continuous cellulose fiber from mengkuang leaves needs to be done first. Alkaline treatment with different concentrations of NaOH is used in order to extract the continuous cellulose fiber from the leaves. The texture of the chemically purified continuous cellulose fiber was observed by visual inspection. FESEM is used in order to visualize the small topographic surface of the treated mengkuang leaves. After that, the composite with different orientations are produced by using vacuum infusion method. Tensile test concluded the process of this project.