Effect of fiber volume fraction on tensile strength and fracture analysis of corn husk reinforced epoxy resin composite

Abstract

This study aims to determine the effect of volume fraction of corn husk fiber as reinforcement in epoxy matrix composites on tensile strength and fracture analysis of specimens. This study used a variation of fiber volume fraction of 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% by using the Vacuum Assisted Resin Infusion (VARI) method. Tensile testing and analysis of fracture patterns were carried out to determine the mechanical properties of the material. The results showed that the addition of corn husk fiber volume fraction to the corn husk reinforced epoxy resin composite could increase the tensile strength value. Tensile strength values for fiber length of 165 mm with variations in fiber volume fraction 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% get the tensile stress values of 26.16 N/mm2, 27.09 N/mm2, 27.82 N/mm2, and 30.61 N/mm2. The mechanism of fiber pull out, debonding, and the rich matrix also occurs in the microstructure analysis of the tensile test fracture results.