Abstract:
Eco-friendly composite made of Timoho Fiber (TF) continuously developed to
get the best performance to replace plastic-based synthetic fibers. This study
focuses on investigating physical characteristics, mechanical properties, thermal analysis, and the morphology of TF-reinforced polyester composites by
adding organic (egg shell powder-ESP) and inorganic (aluminum powder-AP)
fillers. Hot press method was used in the composite fabrication with considered volume fraction of TF, organic, and inorganic fillers. The results showed
that the density of TF-polyester composites decreases with the increasing volume fraction of the fibers. For additional fillers, it was shown that AP was
more effective to be used to improve density than ESP. The tensile and impact
strength of the composite increased with increasing TF volume. However, the
addition of ESP and AP fillers into the composite caused different mechanical
characteristics. Filler addition increased the elasticity modulus, toughness,
thermal resistance increased, while the tensile strength decreased. ESP and AP
fillers provided the best thermal resistance due to the relatively high thermal
conductivity of ±1700 C compared to composites without fillers and amorphous ESP fillers. SEM observation supported the analysis of TF-polyester
composite mechanical characteristics.
