Influence of Abaca Fiber on the Performance of Abaca-Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites

Abstract

Woven abaca fiber also known as “Sinamay” was usually used in textile and handcraft industries. In this paper, the use of woven abaca fiber was utilized as a potential component in a fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite material. It also aims to study the effects of increasing abaca fiber layer on the mechanical and water absorption properties of the composite. The composite laminates having 1, 3, 5, and 7 layers of woven abaca stacked in between of glass fiber mats: plain-woven fabric and chopped strand and polyester resin as binder were fabricated by hand lay-up technique. These abaca-glass fiber reinforced polyester composite specimens were characterized using tensile test, flexural test, izod impact test, and water absorption test. Upon introducing and increasing the amount of abaca layers in the composite, the results showed that its properties were significantly changed. The mechanical strength was decreased while water absorbed was increased as the amount of abaca layer increases.