Production of the pseudo-plywood from polyethylene mixing with oil palm fibers for community enterprise

Abstract

This research aims to study the using oil palm fiber to develop pseudo-plywood from polyethylene product. The mixture ratios of oil palm fiber : polyethylene are 50 : 50 , 55 : 45 , 60 : 40 , 65 : 35 and 70 : 30 by weight. The pseudo-plywood samples are cast in 30 x 30 x 1.5 centimeter in dimension. The pseudo-plywood sample testing follows the TIS 966-2547. The results show that the density, bending strength, modulus of elasticity, thermal conductivity, and tension perpendicular to surface of pseudo-plywood with high quantity of oil palm fiber are lower than pseudo-plywood with low quantity of oil palm fiber while that the water absorption and swelling by density of pseudo-plywood with high quantity of oil palm fiber are higher. However, all of oil palm fiber samples with lower than 65 of ratio can pass the standard.