Abstract
Natural fibers have gained attention in composite making since they are sustainable, renewable, and environmental friendly. However, there are some drawbacks such as low tensile strength, modulus, and flexural strength compared to industrial synthetic fibers. Various techniques have been used to increase the mechanical properties of the reinforced material to compete with synthetic fibers. This study produces reinforced fabric made from kenaf fibers woven into four different weave patterns. The reason for the use of different weave patterns is to reduce the crimp percentage as it may increase the tensile strength of the fabric. The weave patterns are Twill 4/4, Satin 8/3 and Basket 4/4. Plain 1/1 is used as the benchmark. The dry fabric structure with different weave patterns was optimized using a simulation of WiseTex software. The dry fabrics were infused with unsaturated polyester (UPE) to produce composite panel using vacuum infusion process (VIP). The dry fabric and the composites were tested for tensile strength and compared with the plain 1/1 weave pattern. The results show that the breaking strength of dry fabrics increased when different weave patterns with low crimp percentages were used compared with Plain 1/1. However, in composite form, there is a reduction in the tensile strength of Basket 4/4. The other weave patterns still retain the trend of increment in tensile strength compared with Plain 1/1 weave.
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Acknowledgment
The authors are grateful to the Faculty of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering and Advanced Textile Training Centre, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia; Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Centre for Composite, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Politeknik Seberang Perai; and Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven for the WiseTex software.
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Saiman, M.P., Wahab, M.S., Wahit, M.U. (2014). The Effect of Fabric Weave on the Tensile Strength of Woven Kenaf Reinforced Unsaturated Polyester Composite. In: Ahmad, M., Yahya, M. (eds) Proceedings of the International Colloquium in Textile Engineering, Fashion, Apparel and Design 2014 (ICTEFAD 2014). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-011-7_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-011-7_5
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