Effect of Fiber Orientation on the Mechanical Performance of Natural Fiber Polymer Composite Bicycle Frame using Finite Element Analysis

In this research, the performance of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fiber-reinforced epoxy composite with varying fiber orientation and stacking sequence as the material for mountain bike frame was studied utilizing ANSYS software.The choice of OPEFB fiber was motivated by the fact that the waste by-product of oil palm extraction in Malaysia alone might reach 70-80 million tons per year, with 90% of oil palm biomass lost as waste.The properties of epoxy OPEFB composite in principal 1, 2, and 3 directions were calculated using Whitney and Riley estimates.10 stacking sequences and five loading conditions were taken.The results show that the fibre orientation of epoxy OPEFB composite on the bicycle frame had little effect on the performance contrary to the number of plies in the laminate or number of laminates which had major effects.