Acoustic characteristics of composite board from pineapple leaf fibers and rubber latex

Abstract

This study presents the experimental results of acoustic performance of Pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) and natural rubber latex (NR) or PALF-NR composite board. The purpose of the study was to study the sound absorption (SAC), noise reduction (NRC) and of PALF-NR combinations with different PALF-NR fibre ratios. The influence of density and thickness was also studied. Three series of samples with PALF:NR fibre weight ratios 80:20 and 60:40 and PALF boards without binders were fabricated with thicknesses of 10mm, 20mm and 30 mm. Composite boards are fabricated through a combination of hand laying and hot-pressing processes. The results showed that the density was different at different fibre ratios. The composite reaches optimum density between range of 485 kg/m3 to 518 kg/m3. The summary of findings was composite with thicker samples have good sound absorption properties at mid and high range frequencies. Studies shown weak relationship between density, thickness and sound absorption performance in PALF-NR composite. P60NR40 board samples with 20 mm and P100NR0 with 20 mm thickness are the most suitable to be used as sound absorber panel for with and without binder composite since the NRC value of the composite are among the highest NRC values.