Effect of kenaf short fiber loading on mechanical properties of biocomposites

The research of biocomposite product with kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) short fiber as a filler and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) as the matrix had been done to understand the mechanical properties of this material. Kenaf short fiber was obtained from mechanical sieving after doing the mechanical milling. TAPPI method has been done to determine the chemical properties. In order to form a granular biocomposite a single screw extruder was performed with a variation of particle loading 10 and 15%. The original of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) has been used as matrix. The fabrication of speciment had been done by molding injection process. Mechanical properties test was done by ASTM standarization. The results showed the density of the fibers of 1.008 g/cm(3) with a fiber length of 897.07 mu m and a diameter of 66.38 mu m. Tensile strength of kenaf short fiber loading 10 and 15% was 23.522 +/- 8.36 MPa and 20.739 +/- 6.79 MPa, respectively. The tensile properties showed a decreasing trend as the fiber loading was increased. The values of impact strength were 68.657 +/- 4.89 kJ m(-2) and 82.090 +/- 5.56 kJ m(-2), respectively and the hardness values were 96.60 +/- 6.03 HR and 105.20 +/- 13.17 HR, respectively. Kenaf fiber can be a good reinforcement candidate for high performance polymer bio-composites.