Abstract :
The use of composite polymers in the automotive industry has become a
common technique. This is done in order to reduce the mass of vehicles to
contribute to fuel savings. This study aims to investigate the tensile strength and
impact strength of epoxy composite reinforced by carbon black so that it can be
used for the automotive industry.
The reinforcing material used in composite manufacture was carbon black
from incomplete combustion of diesel fuel by Thermal Black Process. The matrix
used was Epoxy Resin Bakelite EPR 174 and Epoxy Hardener V-140. The
composite making method was hand lay-up method. The test variation used
carbon black with volume fraction of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% using the stirring
round of 885 Rpm for 15 minutes and the drying temperature of 50° C for 150
minutes. Furthermore, the testings of tensile strength, impact strenght, and SEM
were conducted.
From the result of the tensile testing and impact testing, the highest tensile
strength was obtained from composite with 5% volume fraction of 44,65 MPa
while composite with the lowest tensile strength was composite with volume
fraction 20% for 22,3 MPa. For the impact testing, the highest impact strength on
composite with fraction of 5% volume was 5,47 kgcm while the lowest impact
strength was composite with 20% volume fraction for 0,57 kgcm. The SEM testing
was conducted on fracture of tensile speciment with volume fraction of 5%. Based
on the testing result, void, crack, pull out and agglomeration at particulate of
carbon black were identified