Acoustic behaviour of needle punched nonwoven structures produced from various natural and synthetic fibers

Abstract

Porous materials are an excellent example of passive materials, which reduces sound energy by dissipating heat energy due to the presence of a void structure. In textiles, nonwovens are highly porous and less expensive materials compared to woven and knitted structures. The present research investigates the effect of fiber type, fiber fineness, fiber cross-sectional shape, and fabric areal density on the acoustic properties of needle punched nonwoven fabrics produced from flax comber noil and jute caddies and polyester staple fibers of circular, hollow, and hollow conjugated cross-sections. The study reveals that hollow conjugated cross section exhibits maximum noise absorption. Nonwoven made from biodegradable and recyclable jute caddies, and flax comber noil shows considerable noise absorption properties compared to polyester synthetic fiber, although they are inexpensive. Higher punch density results in better compactness of nonwoven fabric leading to improved sound absorption property. Layered nonwoven structures are responsible for better sound absorption properties due to the presence of an air layer.