EFFECT OF PROCESSING TECHNIQUES ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF OIL PALM EMPTY FRUIT BUNCH COMPOSITE

Oil palm fibers have been extensively studied for the production of various composites, such as thermoplastic composites, particleboard, medium-density fibreboard, polymer-impregnated oil palm trunk, and thermoset composites. The empty fruit bunch of oil palm can be included as a reinforcement fiber due to availability, cost, and its properties. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is chosen because it has low degree of branching and stronger intermolecular forces and tensile strength. The filler acted as reinforcement on strength and stiffness of composites while the plastic matrix serves as the adhesive to hold the filler in the place so that the suitable structures components can be made. Two different processing techniques were used for this works which are Extrusion process (EX) and Internal mixer process (IM). These two processes will produce two composites in different form and with different mechanical properties. The result revealed that IM composites yielded a relatively higher strength than EX composites. The IM composites also showed better results in their tensile modulus, flexure strength, and hardness compared with EX composites.