PENGARUH KOSNSENTRASI ALKALI DAN DIAMETER SERAT TERHADAP KUAT GESEK REKAT PADA ANTARA MUKA SERAT IJUK AREN/EPOKSI

Palm fibers (arenga pinnata merr) are natural fibers that abundantly available, but has not been used optimally. Palm fibers may potentially been used as an alternative reinforcement for composite materials. This study aims to determine the influence of alkaline (NaOH) concentration and palm fiber diameter on the interfacial shear strength and failure characteristics of palm fibers / epoxy system.
Palm fibers were divided into large diameter (d = 0.60 mm), medium diameter (d = 0.45 mm) and small diameter (d = 0.30 mm). Each of these fibers were soaked in alkaline (NaOH) at concentration of 0 g/g; 0.025 g/g; 0.050 g/g; 0.075 g/g; and 0.100 g/g for 2 hours. They were then rinsed, dried and embedded in epoxy with dimensions of 90 mm long, 20 mm width and 9 mm thick. They were then subjected to pull out test.
Fibers pull out test results shows that interfacial shear strength increases with the increase of alkaline concentration up to 0.025 g/g for large and medium fibers and up to 0.075 g/g for the small fibers. The highest shear strength 2.88 MPa was obtained at the alkaline concentration of 0.025 g/g for large fiber and the lowest concentration 1.11 MPa of 0 g/g alkaline concentration for small fiber. Most of the fibers were failed by fiber pull out, as can be seen in their photo micro-graph.