Acoustic and vibration analysis of pineapple leaf fibre laminates for aircraft applications

Abstract

This paper deals with the novel concept of pineapple fibre on graphene nanocomposites for the application of aircraft cowling. This paper studies the mechanical and acoustic properties of PGF (pineapple graphene fibre). The noise generated by the piston engine aircraft is huge which is not absorbed significantly by the conventional aluminium cowling. In fact, the noise generated by the power plant discomforts the passenger and the environment. In addition, the vibration generated by the power plant is considered. To enhance the noise and vibration absorption, graphene is added to the epoxy in three different proportions 5%, 8% and 12% to form tested specimens PGF5, PGF8 and PGF12, respectively. The fabrication process is done using the vacuum bag process with the help of epoxy and the hardener. Furthermore, the catalyst is added to the fabrication to diminish the curing time. From the results, it is evident that P12 shows a profound effect. To be exact, 15% reduction in noise is witnessed on P12 fibre. On the other hand, only minimal reduction of 2% is seen in vibration. The results are revalidated using FEA.