PENGARUH RASIO SERAT ABAKA DAN KARBON TERHADAP SIFAT MEKANIS DAN FISIS KOMPOSIT HIBRID ABAKA/KARBON/EPOXY

Metal materials are currently widely used worldwide for material engineering and biomedical industries. But metals have disadvantages, namely easy to corrode, relatively high price, and heavy. Natural fiber composite is one of the materials as a substitute for metal because the nature of the fiber composite is strong and lighter than metal. However, natural fiber-reinforced composites have lower mechanical properties than synthetic fiber-reinforced composites. To reduce these weaknesses, it is necessary to modify natural fiber composites by combining abaca fiber and carbon fiber, commonly called hybrid composites. Therefore, this study aims to determine the effect of the ratio of abaca fiber and carbon fiber in hybrid composites on tensile properties, bending, and water absorption as an alternative material for socket prostheses. This research uses abaca fiber and carbon fiber. The abaca fiber used in this study had 2 variations: untreated fiber and alkalized treatment using 6% NaOH for 36 hours. The length of abaca fiber used is ± 4 mm. Carbon fiber also has 2 variations, namely untreated fiber and treated with liquid nitrogen for 10 minutes. The length of the carbon fiber used is ± 6 mm. The ratio of abaca and carbon fiber treated in this study were 2:1, 3:1, and 4:1 for hybrid abaca/carbon/epoxy composites. Mechanical tests, namely tensile and bending testing, refer to the ASTM D638-02 and ASTM D790-03 standards. Physical testing was carried out using water absorption using the ASTM D750-98 standard; the overall immersion was carried out for 336 hours, with every 12 hours weighing the specimen. Characterization of test results using SEM on tensile test and optical microscope for bending test specimens. The results showed that the mechanical properties of treated carbon and abaca treatment increased tensile strength and bending strength compared to no treatment. The mechanical properties of the hybrid abaca/carbon/epoxy composite have the highest tensile and bending strength values of 70.33 MPa and 103.33 MPa, respectively. In physical properties, the lowest weight gain percentage was found in the influence of a 2:1 fiber ratio of 7.89% for water absorption. The characterization results with SEM and optical microscopy on tensile and bending specimens showed that the fiber distribution was uneven in each variation, and some voids caused a decrease in mechanical strength. Abaca/carbon/epoxy hybrid composites have higher mechanical strength when compared to polypropylene, glass composites, Rattan Epoxy and Polyester Rami as socket prosthesis materials. Therefore, abaca/carbon/epoxy hybrid composite can potentially be an alternative material for socket prosthesis.