The Fibre Damage Due to the Mechanical Cutting of Treated and Untreated Kenaf Short Fibre/Unsaturated Polyester Composite

The use of short natural fibre in polymer matrix is common since it would be easier for the processing purposes. The common method used to shorten the fibre is via the pulverisation process. Pulverisation is a size reduction process by means of mechanical cutting using sharp rotating steel blades. However, less attention was given to the effects of this process towards the micro-structural properties of the natural fibre. This study is to trash out the most significant mechanical damage to the treated and untreated, pulverised Kenaf fibre using 0.25 and 5.0 mm sieve sizes. The micro-structural properties of the fibre were analysed using polarised optical microscope. From the results obtained, it was identified that there are seven types of fibre damage to the Kenaf fibre after passing through the pulverisation processes. These damages are the fibre axial splits, fibrillar failure, granular fracture, fatigue failure, fibre peel off, chemically degraded fibre brake and biaxial failure. By knowing the behaviour and fibre condition, the cause of inconsistency of natural fibre based composite strength can be further discussed.