The Analysis of Mechanical Properties for Coconut Composites Using the Taguchi Method

Abstract

In recent years, industrial pollution is a currently big issue. Research toward biodegradable materials such as coconut shell reinforced composites has increased due to environmental awareness and global warming concerns that grow day by day. The researcher is triggered to implement material that is eco-friendly. The research has been conducted to determine the mechanical properties of coconut composites by using the Taguchi method. The mechanical properties of tensile strength, modulus elasticity, and elongation were investigated in studying whether they are affected by the weight percentage and speed. The mold is the redesign and fabricated based on ASTM D638-14. According to the composition of the coconut composite 30, 40, and 50%, the tensile specimen have been fabricated. The tensile test has been conducted to determine the mechanical properties of the coconut composite using a universal testing machine (UTM), and the result was analyzed using the Taguchi Method L9. According to the Taguchi analysis, the optimum parameters are 30% weight percentage while speed is 7 mm/min. The weight percentage 30% has better tensile test (6.24 N/mm2), modulus of elasticity (2097.07 N/m2), and elongation at failure (0.19%) compared to weight percentage (40 and 50%) and speed (5 mm/min and 6 mm/min), respectively. Overall, the weight percentage and speed can affect the mechanical properties of coconut composites. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.