The application of 2D woven kenaf reinforced unsaturated polyester composite in automotive interiors

A 2D woven kenaf reinforced Unsaturated Polyester (UPE) has been successfully developed for pillar A and door panel for interior automotive parts. This study of woven kenaf fibers reinforced unsaturated polyester focused on application of 2D woven kenaf UPE for the purpose of automotive interiors parts. The reinforced preform selection was done based on the design with fixed and identified parameters. Plain weave design was selected as a reinforcement due to the stability and superior flexural and impact strength. Vacuum Infusion Process (VIP) was selected as a processing method to prepare the interior composite parts. Two different parts were selected in this study, which are pillar A and upper door panel, and the products show similar physical properties. The result indicates that the 2D woven kenaf UPE composite was proven capable to be applied as automotive interior parts. (paper)