Study on Cure Characteristics and Mechanical Behaviours of Kenaf Fibre Reinforced Natural Rubber Composites

In recent years, natural fibres appear to be as an outstanding material to substitute the conventional reinforcement materials in polymer composites. Kenaf fibre reinforced natural rubber (KFNR) composite was prepared by incorporating of different loadings of kenaf fibre using two roll mill machines. The compound was vulcanised at 150°C according to their respective cure time. The intention of this study is to investigate the influence of kenaf fibre on cure characteristics and mechanical bahaviour of (KFNR) composites.The result showed that the higher fibre content in composites led to shorter optimum cure time, t90. It was also observed that the tensile strength and elongation at break gradually decreased with an increment in fibre loadings. However, the trend was not similar for the hardness where the hardness value was increased by the increment of fibre loadings. The study has exhibited that the optimum fibre loading for the best performance of the composite achieved was 10 phr. The Scanning Electron Microscopy micrograph clarified that fibre dispersion and adhesion were weak thus resulting low in tensile strength and elongation at break.