Mechanical Property Evaluation of Glass-carbon-durian Skin Fiber Reinforced Polylactic Acid Composites

Abstract

The main objective of this work was to study and develop composite materials by experiments with mixtures of synthetic (glass fiber, carbon fiber) and natural fiber (durian skin fiber) reinforcements on a polylactic acid (PLA) matrix composite, because of its excellent mechanical properties. Durian skin fiber (DSF) is a natural waste throughout Thailand, and an alternative to recycling is to realize its potential as a new reinforcement through mixing and the injection molding processes. The flexural strength (σ _F) and flexural modulus (E _F) of the composites from specimens showed a maximum value by content of durian skin fiber at 10 wt%, for good performance relative to particle dispersion between the matrix and the fiber, and showed a minimum value by content of durian skin fiber at 20 wt%, because the reinforcement material affects the mechanical properties in the experiments.

Keywords

glass fiber / carbon fiber / durian skin fiber / polylactic acid / mechanical properties