The Effect of Pressing Duration on Physical and Mechanical Properties of Recycled Polypropylene Plastic and Gmelina (Gmelinaarborea Roxb.) Bark Powder Composite Mixture

• Main Author: Humanira, Zahra
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/43361
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

This research is conducted to determine the effect of the pressing time on the quality of a composite of Gmelina (Gmelinaarborea Roxb.) bark powder and recycled polypropylene (PP) plastics on the physical and mechanical properties of the composite. Maleic Anhydride (MAH) in this study functions as a modifier, using 5% of the penguin (matrix) material, i.e. recycled polypropylene (PP). The filler used is Gmelina bark powder. The ratio of the composition used in this study is 40:60 (Gmelina bark powder : recycled polypropylene plastic (PP)). The research method used was an experimental method with 3 treatments with 3 repetitions. The treatment in this study is the influence of 2 minutes, 4 minutes, and 6 minutes pressing duration. The test parameters performed were physical and mechanical tests using the JIS A 5980-2003 standard. Physical tests include Water Content (WC), density, volume shrinkage, thickness development, and water absorption, while mechanical tests include tensile strength tests, Modulus of Rapture (MoR), and Modulus of Elasticity (MoE). The purpose of this study is to determine the best pressing time that can be done in the manufacture of a composite mixture of Gmelina bark powder and recycled polypropylene plastic. The results shows that the best pressing duration is at the pressing duration for 4 minutes because it showed the best test results when compared to the pressing duration for 2 minutes and 6 minutes. Characteristics of the test affected by the duration of pressing for 4 minutes include the value of water content of 6.70%, volume shrinkage of 2.31%, water absorption of 4.79%, tensile strength of 31.40 kg/cm2, MoR of 81.53 kg/cm2, and MoE amounted to 62.39 kg/cm2 but the density of 1.12 g/cm3 and the thickness development of 0.57% was not greatly affected by the 4 minute pressing duration.