PEMANFAATAN LIMBAH IJUK (SERAT ALAMI) DALAM PEMBUATAN KOMPOSIT SEBAGAI BAHAN AKSESORIS KENDARAAN

The application of composite materials in the engineering field is growing for several of purposes. Nowadays, the numbers of vehicles are growing rapidly, the increasing of vehicle sales provides a huge positive impact for the vehicle accessories manufacturing industry. The utilization of natural fibers as one of reinforcement for composite materials has been studied in expectation to reduce synthetic fibers (fiberglass) usage, which has a negative effect for health and environment. This study was using palm fibers which were a waste of household equipment manufacturing industry that has a low economic value. The purpose of this study was to determine the tensile strength, bending strength and the composite optimum composition form combinations of palm fibers, calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and polyester resin. The object of this study is the palm fibers that cut into 100 mm long In this experiment there are 15 variations of specimens, there are 3 specimens tested in each variations. The making method of the specimens is by hand lay-up technique with fibers variations according to the volume fraction 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and the variation of the matrix between polyester resin and calcium carbonate are 90:10, 85:15, 80:20. To test the specimens is using mechanical testing machine (Universal Wood Testing Machine), the specimens using the standard tensile testing ASTM 638M, and using ASTM D-790 testing standard for the bending test. Test results showed that the composite with 10% of fiber volume fraction and 90% volume fraction of matrix (80% polyester resin: 20% CaCO3) has the optimum tensile strength that reached 51.73 MPa with an average value of 36.83 MPa. The average tensile strain is 0.057% and 664.30 MPa for the modulus of elasticity. The composite optimum flexural strength is at 0% of fiber volume fraction (without fiber reinforcement), which reached 82.91 MPa with an average value of 65.07 MPa. However, based on the composite application for vehicle accessories, the optimum fiber composition of the composite which has the best value of both strength (tensile and bending strength), is at the composites comprised of 10% fiber volume fraction composition. In terms of economic feasibility, composite manufacturing industry (palm fiber) as vehicle accessories, is considered feasible to run. It is based on the economic viability parameters, such as the BC ratio value > 1 (1.05), ROI 65%, PBP 18.2 months and BEP 49 sets / month