Evaluation on Tensile Strength of Composite Materials Containing Palm Fiber as Reinforcing Materials

Abstract Application of natural fibers is of the interesting methods to reinforce composites. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the tensile strength of reinforce composite with palm fiber. Matrix used in this work was polyester resin. By increasing the washing time to four hours the tensile strength was increased but in eight hours was decrease and the increase of soda concentration up to 10% caused the decrease of tensile strength. The 108% increase in strength compare with raw sample was related to sample produced by fibers washed with 5% soda and four hours washing time. The tensile strength of sample produced by raw palm fiber was 25.86 Mpa. Keywords: , , , .