TENSILE AND FLEXURAL PROPERTIES OF COMMINGLED KENAF/PET REINFORCED POLYPROPYLENE HYBRID COMPOSITES

Commingled hybrid composite has a potential to improve further the physical and mechanical properties. However, very limited studies have been done on commingled hybrid composite. Therefore, this project was proposed to study the effects of commingled hybrid composite of PP/kenaf/PET on tensile and flexural properties. The PP/kenaf/PET composite was manufactured by compression moulding. Due to the constraint of mould cavity, only two compositions were produced i.e. 85/10/5 and 85/5/10 (PP/kenaf/PET) wt.%. Tensile strengths of commingled 85/5/10 were increased by 48% and 13% compared to neat PP and non-commingled 85/5/10, respectively. However, commingled hybrid composite showed an adverse effect to tensile modulus and flexural properties compared to that of non-commingled composite.