Influence of processing techniques on the performance of outworn denim fabric-reinforced polymer composites

Muhammad  Rizal; Nurdin  Ali; Husni  Usman; Muhammad Livuri  Litusarfi; Mohd. Shahir  Kasim

doi:10.6180/jase.202607_30.010

Influence of processing techniques on the performance of outworn denim fabric-reinforced polymer composites

Muhammad Rizal^1,2This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Nurdin Ali¹, Husni Usman¹, Muhammad Livuri Litusarfi¹, and Mohd. Shahir Kasim²

¹Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Syiah Kuala (USK), 23111, Darussalam, Banda Aceh, Indonesia

²Faculty of Innovative Design and Technology, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, 21300, Terengganu, Malaysia

Received: October 23, 2025
Accepted: November 30, 2025
Publication Date: December 21, 2025

Copyright The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are cited.

Download Citation: ||https://doi.org/10.6180/jase.202607_30.010

The increasing demand for environmentally friendly composite materials has driven the use of recycled textile fibers, such as outworn denim. However, beyond the type of fiber used, the overall performance of composites is strongly influenced by the fabrication technique, and the appropriate processing method for producing high-performance denim fiber-reinforced composites remains uncertain. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate and compare the effects of vacuum infusion and compression molding on the physical, water absorption, and mechanical characteristics of recycled denim fabric reinforced polymer composites (DFRPC). The experimental results reveal that composites manufactured using vacuum infusion exhibited higher tensile strength ( 53 MPa). In contrast, composites produced through compression molding demonstrated superior flexural strength ( 60.9 MPa ), a higher critical buckling load ( 0.79 kN ), and lower density and water absorption. These findings highlight that the choice of fabrication method plays a decisive role in defining the structural performance of denim fabric reinforced polymer composites.

Keywords: Denimfabric reinforce polymer composite (DFRPC); vacuum infusion; compression molding; mechanical properties

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