Effect of Polyester Resin Fraction and Sisal Fiber on Composite Tensile Strength

Sisal fiber is a hard fiber produced from the extraction process of the leaves of the sisal plant. In this study, sisal fiber was used as a composite reinforcing material. This research aims to determine the effect of the composition of polyester resin and sisal fiber on tensile strength. This type of research is experimental research carried out by mixing polyester resin and sisal fiber. The dimensions of the tensile test specimens were made according to the tensile testing standard ASTM D 638 with three types of volume variations for polyester resin and sisal fiber, namely 90%: 10% for three specimens, 85%: 15% for three specimens, and 80%: 20% for three specimens. The number of specimens in this study was 9 specimens. The tensile testing equipment used is a Universal Testing Machine with type RF-2425. The tensile test results for a composition of 90% polyester resin and 10% sisal fiber showed a maximum stress of 22.993 N/mm2 and a strain of 2.245%. In a comparison of 85% polyester resin and 15% sisal fiber, a maximum stress of 37.931 N/mm2 and a strain of 2.342% were obtained. And in a comparison of 80% polyester resin and 20% sisal fiber, a maximum stress of 39.317 N/mm2 and a strain of 2.692% were obtained. So it can be concluded that the more the mixture of sisal fibers in the composite, the higher the tensile strength value of the composite