Fire Retardant and Physical Properties of Kapok-Chopped Strand Mats Fiberglass Composites for Marine Application

In this study, kapok/Chop Strand Mat (CSM) reinforced unsaturated polyester hybrid composites were fabricated using hand lay-up method with a boat composite sandwich- configuration laminate method. The glass CSM was used as a shell with kapok as a core, with an approximate total fiber content of 60%. Three different designated layers of kapok and weight ratios of (60/40)% and (40/60)% were used to fabricated for comparison purposes. Fire retardant properties were investigated using UL-94 which are vertical burning and horizontal burning test. The result showed that the hybrid composite with 3 layers of kapok took the longest time to burn. It has proved that the hybrid kapok/CSM reinforced displayed better in fire retardation than the raw CSM composites by using sandwich arrangement. It was found physical properties of kapok reinforced composite showed the increasing trend of water absorption and thickness swelling with the increasing storage time.