Effects of fiber volume fraction on unidirectional kenaf/epoxy composites: the transition region

This article presents the effects of fiber volume fraction on the existence of a transition region in unidirectional kenaf/epoxy composites. The composites were made from hand Lay-up techniques, with three formulations of fiber volume fraction employed: 0% (neat), 15% and 45%. The results showed tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Abdullah, Abdul Hakim, Abdan, Khalina, Ali, Aidy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis 2011
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/23050/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/23050/1/Effects%20of%20fiber%20volume%20fraction%20on%20unidirectional%20kenafepoxy%20composites%20the%20transition%20region.pdf
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Summary:This article presents the effects of fiber volume fraction on the existence of a transition region in unidirectional kenaf/epoxy composites. The composites were made from hand Lay-up techniques, with three formulations of fiber volume fraction employed: 0% (neat), 15% and 45%. The results showed that tensile properties such as tensile strength and modulus of elasticity increased as the fiber volume increased. The stress-strain curves showed that the kenaf/epoxy composites exhibited bi-linear responses with reductions in the modulus of elasticity. Surface morphology aided by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) revealed that the reduction in the modulus of elasticity was due to matrix cracking.