Effect of Ramie Fibers on Fatique Strength Automotive Product

Abstract

The automotive industry is already utilizing many composite materials for its products since composite materials are very environmentally friendly, have low economic costs and able to reduce weight. Ramie fiber reinforced by natural composites have a great opportunity to be used as materials for automatic components. The mechanical bonding of the ramie fiber reinforced composite pad can be improved by increasing the compatibility between the matrices and good product handling technique. In addition, the mechanical behavior is also greatly influenced by the orientation of the fibers in different matrices. This paper will discuss the effect of fiber orientation (unidirectional, woven and random) on several resin matrices (epoxy and polypropilene). The purpose of this study is to observe the effect of ramie fiber orientation on fatigue resistance properties in the form of handle components. The observations used SEM (scanning electron microscope) for observing of the failure mechanism. Fatigue test of the specimens using 80s carry-type handles (in situ). Handling fatigue testing equipment is specially designed in accordance with the application of the load. The strength of the fatigue observed in the handle component shows that the optimum value is produced in the handle with the orientation variation of fiber in both the epoxy matrix and the polypropylene matrix, namely 17141 and 8414 cycles. The presence of ramie reinforcement fibers in general can increase the fatigue strength of handle components. Whereas the lowest fatigue strength is owned by fibers which have a random orientation. However, when compared with no fiber, the component handles with randomly oriented fibers still have better fatigue strength.