The Influence of Temperature on Mechanical Properties and Fiber Damage

The purpose of this project is to study the influence of processing temperature on mechanical properties and extent of fiber damage of the empty fruit bunch (EFB) – high density polyethylene (HDPE) composites during compounding and processing. The samples produced from the injection molding were subjected to tensile and flexural tests to correlate the effect of various processing temperatures with the mechanical properties of the composites. Fibers of 3-5 mm in length were compounded with HDPE using an extruder to form the raw material of the composites. The resulting compound was transferred to the injection molding to obtain the specimens required for the tensile and flexural tests. The injection molding temperature was varied from 170ºC, 175ºC, 180ºC, 185ºC to 190ºC. Finally, fiber damage characterization was conducted by dissolving the HDPE matrix using xylene and measuring the length of the remaining fiber after extrusion process, injection molding, tensile and flexural tests