Experimental investigation on thermal behavior, sound absorption, and flammability of natural fibre polymer composites

Exhausting oil resources and increasing pollution around the world are forcing researchers to look for new, renewable, biodegradable materials to lead sustainable development. The use of fiber reinforced composites based on natural fibres has increasingly begun as prospective materials for various engineering applications in the automotive, rail, construction and aerospace industries. The natural fiber chosen to make the composite material is plant-based fibre, e.g. jute fibre, and hemp fibre. Thermosetting polymer based Epoxy (LY556) was utilized as matrix material and The composites were produced using hand lay-up technique. The fabricated composites were tested for acoustic testing, thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and flammability testing to asses sound absorption, thermal decomposition and fire resistivity of the structures. Hemp fibre composites have shown improved thermal stability over Jute fibre composites. However, the fire resistance characteristics of jute fibre composites are better as compared to hemp fibre composites. The sound absorption coefficient of composites was found to enhance with the increase of frequency.