Hybrid composite materials, which combine two or more types of fiber in a single matrix, have currently drawn the interest of researchers. This research investigates the tensile and impact properties of hybrid kenaf/glass reinforced metal laminates (FMLs) with different fiber orientations and stacking configurations. FMLs were formed by sandwiching the annealed aluminum 5052 sheets to the composite laminates using hot press molding compression technique. The tensile test was performed at a quasi-static rate of 2 mm/min with reference to ASTM E8 whereas Charpy impact test was conducted using impact pendulum tester according to ASTM E23.Results showed that improvement in tensile and impact strength was observed in hybrid FMLs compared to kenaf fiber reinforced FMLs. Fiber orientation of ±45° reduced the tensile strength but increased the impact strength of FMLs in comparison with fiber orientation of 0°/90°. Overall, hybrid FMLs incorporated with a fiber stacking sequence of glass/kenaf/glass showed superior characteristic in tensile and impact performance. K E Y W O R D Sfiber metal laminates, hybrid composites, impact properties, kenaf fibers, tensile properties, thermoplastic

Global pollution due to the overwhelming usage of non-biodegradable plastics is getting severe nowadays. Hence, the aim of this paper is to develop an environmentally friendly composite material from potato starch and sugarcane bagasse. The composites were prepared by hot pressing at 145? for 60 min. The composites were characterize for their mechanical and thermal properties. In terms of thermal properties, thermogravimetric analysis shows that incorporation of sugarcane fiber has improved the thermal stability of the composites. Meanwhile, incorporation of sugarcane fibre form 0 to 15 wt.% has significantly improved the tensile and flexural properties of the composites. Scanning electron micrograph of the tensile fracture showed the fibre fracture and fibre “pull-out” from the composite. Overall, the biodegradable composites has shown improved functional characteristic than the origin material. This finding shows that this Sugarcane/Potato starch composites are potential alternative material for biodegradable product i. e biodegradable plastic packaging.

Due to the increasing awareness on environmental impact and the needs towards sustainability, weight reduction of the vehicles is one of the most promising solutions to improve fuel efficiency towards achieving the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Fibre metal laminate is one of the lightweight material that inherits advantages of metal and fibre reinforced composite. Therefore, the drive of this study is to determine the effect of water absorption on tensile properties, thickness swelling and forming analysis of the natural fibre metal laminate. Fabrication of natural fibre metal laminate consists of two layers of kenaf woven fabric in polypropylene matrix and aluminium 5052-O as the skin. The results show that the natural fibre metal laminate absorbs 0.67% water and has 0.91% thickness swelling. The water content has minimal effect on the tensile properties of the natural fibre metal laminate. While for the forming analysis, the natural fibre metal laminate has higher formability compared to an aluminium sheet and has a higher potential to be formed into complex shape.

No abstract

No abstract