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Volume 18, Issue 1, 2009
LETTER: PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SHORT PINEAPPLE LEAF FIBRE (PALF) REINFORCED HIGH IMPACT POLYSTYRENE (HIPS) COMPOSITES
J. P. Siregar1, S. M. Sapuan1*, M. Zaki Ab. Rahman2, and H. M. D. Khairul Zaman3
1 Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
2 Department of Chemistry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
3 Radiation Processing Technology Division, Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research (MINT), Bangi 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed
Received 16 April 2008; accepted 16 December 2008
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study to investigate the physical properties of short pineapple leaf fibre (SPALF) reinforced high impact polystyrene (HIPS) composites. Three different sizes of the fibre were used in this study which was 10-40mesh, 40-60mesh and 60-80mesh. A five different fibre contents were used in this study which was 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%. The fabricated SPALF/HIPS composites were used melt mixing and compression moulding. The physical properties of SPALF/HIPS composites such as water absorption, thickness swelling, melt flow index (MFI), and density board of composites were studied. The result showed that the addition of the SPALF was decreased the physical properties compare to pure HIPS (0% SPALF).
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