The effect of fiber orientations on the mechanical properties of ramie-sea sengon wood composites for wind turbin blades

The most important component of wind turbine is wind turbine blades. Wind turbine blades are mostly made from steel and aluminum. Unfortunately, this material is expensive and difficult to make because it increases the thickness of the laminate. In addition, the stiffness of the flap forms and lowers the natural frequency. Using composite materials in wind turbines is the best solution. Improving composite performance, such as making more resistant to impact, is a reference in wind turbine blade manufacture. The problems studied and searched for this research are fiber orientation (0°, 45°, 90°) and volume fraction (30%, 40% and 50%), on composite ramie fiber and sea sengon wood cores for the development of wind turbine blades, which can improve the mechanical properties of wind turbine blades. The making of the specimen utilized the compression molding method. The results depicted that the tensile strength for ramie fiber and core sea sengon wood was largest at 40% volume fraction of fiber direction 45° to the value of 27.13 MPa. The bending strength for ramie fiber core sea sengon wood was largest at 30% volume fraction of fiber direction 0° with a value of 5.08 MPa. It was expected that the use of ramie fiber and sea sengon wood as the substitutes for glass fibers in the development of wind turbine blades can improve the mechanical properties of the material of wind turbine blades that have been made previously.