Cyclic responses of oil palm fiber (OPF)/eggshell powder (ESP) filled natural rubber biocomposites

Increasing awareness on negative impacts caused by conventional fillers in rubber compound such as carbon black and silica on the environment has drove researchers to focus on development of high performance alternative rubber composite materials. There are extensive research works on utilizing natural biofillers, for example from food solid waste materials to replace the conventional fillers in composites which can be potentially used in aerospace application. Among the numerous solid waste materials available, eggshell powder (ESP) and oil palm fibre (OPF) were identified as potential biofillers in this project as these materials have yielded encouraging results when incorporated separately into the natural rubber matrix. However, up to this date, there has been no literature found reporting on the effect of the biofillers on the mechanical responses of the biocomposites, especially under cyclic loading conditions. In order for these natural rubber biocomposites to be fully commercialize, subsequently replacing the conventional rubber composites in aerospace applications, they need to prove their suitability for end-use applications. Thus, it is vital to investigate the mechanical response of biocomposites for durability analysis. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to examine the effect of hybrid biofillers on the resulting mechanical responses of the composites subjected to cyclic loading conditions. For this purpose, different loadings of ESP and OPF filled natural rubber biocomposites subjected to cyclic loadings were investigated and the resulting mechanical responses were evaluated.