Effect of consolidation pressure on physical and mechanical properties of unsaturated polyester resin-coconut shell-titanium dioxide composite

This study investigates the effect of different content polyester (UPR), coconut shell (CS) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) and compaction pressure in UPR-CSTiO2 composite. The composite mixture with different composition was mixed and then cold compressed with 200, 300, 400 and 500 MPa. The result showed that the composite with 40 wt% of CS fiber with no addition of TiO2 has good flexural properties due to the ability of reinforcement (CS) support the loading on composite and the lighter compared to the other composites. UPR-CS-TiO2 composite density increased with TiO2 content due to higher agglomeration and void content between CS fiber and TiO2 particles. The composite with 20 wt% CS and TiO2 exhibit thickness swelling, water uptake and moisture content reduction. In the most composite composition modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) increased with compaction pressure while thickness swelling, water absorption and moisture content decreased.