Effect of stitching on tensile properties of kenaf fabric reinforced polypropylene

Nowadays, an increased interest in environmental awareness and use of eco-friendly composites towards the natural fibre such as kenaf fibre usage as reinforcement in composites have been shown by the researchers and industry. In this study, an experimental investigation was conducted to discover the effect of stitching patterns on woven kenaf fabric. The woven kenaf fibre and epoxy resin was used as a reinforcement and matrix. The composite samples was prepared by using hot press technique. It was found that the V and T60 samples was improved the tensile performance about 69.91% and 41.37%, respectively. It was also shown that the highest specific strength is V stitch pattern with the increment of 34.60% compared to unstitched sample. This can be concluded that, the angle of stitch direction gave significant effect on specific strength performance. Implications of the results and future research directions are also presented