Flexural strength of hybrid composite resin epoxy reinforced stinging nettle fiber with silane chemical treatment

Abstract

The advantage properties of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.) fiber compared to other natural fibers are its strength and lightweight. These fibers can be used as a substitute for synthetic fibers for reinforcing epoxy resin composite hybrid materials. This study aimed to determine the flexural properties of epoxy resin composite hybrids reinforced with stinging nettle fiber with weight ratios: 10%, 15%, and 20%, and chemical treatment of silane on the fibers: 3%, 6%, and 9%. The method of making composites was by hand lay-up, at room temperature, holding time 12 h, and using a load of 10 psi. Flexural testing used the RTG 1250 type test tool concerning the ASTM D790-3 standard. The results showed that the ratio of stinging nettle fiber composition to the epoxy resin matrix and silane treatment had a significant effect on flexural strength. Hybrid composite with 10% fiber and 3% silane treatment mode had the lowest flexural strength at 32.065 MPa and the highest flexural strength at 20% fiber and 9% silane treatment at 49.325 MPa. The highest strain was 0.0284 mm/mm in the 20% fiber and 9% treatment and the lowest was 0.0141 mm/mm in the 10% fiber and 3% silane treatment. Therefore, stinging nettle fiber-reinforced epoxy resin hybrid composites are able to withstand bending loads due to their high flexural properties. With the increase in fiber composition, the increase in silane concentration provides increased strain so that the flexural ability will be better.

Keywords

• composite
• epoxy
• flexural strength
• silane
• stinging nettle fiber