Physical and Mechanical Characterization of Kenaf Fiber Filament Wound Composite Produced Using Vacuum-Bagging and Heat-Shrink Tube Method

Abstract

Most natural fiber reinforcements in the industry are based on random discontinuous fibers. This study aims to demonstrate the potential of continuous natural fiber-reinforced composites in structural applications. Kenaf-cotton yarn composites have been manufactured by dry filament-winding process with winding angle that varies from 50 to 80° and wet lay-up assisted by two methods, i.e. vacuum-bagging and heat-shrink tube. A hoop tensile strength test was conducted and winding angle of 80o was found to give the highest tensile strength of approximately 49.3 MPa. Heat-shrink tube method improved composites performance by 36%. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2020.