A STUDY ON CORRELATION BETWEEN HARDNESS AND THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF POLYMER COMPOSITES REINFORCED WITH STINGING NETTLE FIBER

The advantages of the fibrous nature of stinging nettles compared with other natural fibers are their strength and light weight. Stinging nettles thrive in Indonesia, Asia. Nettle fiber is used as a substitute for synthetic fibers to reinforce composite materials. The objective of this research was to study the relationship between the hardness and thermal conductivity of polymer composites reinforced with nettle fiber. Epoxy composites were reinforced with nettle fiber using fiber weight fractions of 10%, 15%, and 20%. Fibers were treated with 5% NaOH for 2 hours, had a length of 5 mm, and were in a random orientation. Composites were produced using the hand lay-up method. The results show that the composite hardness were 81.6, 84.4, and 86.6 Shore D, and the thermal conductivities were 0.129, 0.138, and 0.162 kcal/ms ºC. The relationship between control factors and performance output was determined by nonlinear regression analysis.