Development of Needle-Punched Nonwoven Fabrics from Natural Fibers for Sound Absorption Behavior

Abstract

: The natural fibers prepared from plant waste have parameters like fiber strength, length, and chemical composition which are suitable to fabric and the fibers into nonwoven. The selected plants were identified from their botanical names by comparing the collected samples with those of known identity in the herbarium of a botanical survey in India with their names as Sesbania grandiflora, Mutingia Calabura, and Bauhinia Purpurea. A novel Portable multi-fibre decorticator machine was fabricated and used to extract the fibers from the plant stem and barks. The extracted fibers are done physical characterization and their properties are investigated. The extracted fibers are blended with other natural fibers like jute and flax in appropriate proportions 45:45:10 and nonwoven fabrics were prepared by the needle-punching method. Three and four-layer nonwovens are produced using a needle punching machine. The developed nonwovens are tested using standard apparatus and the effect of natural fibers in areal density, thickness; bulk density, porosity, and air permeability are analyzed. In addition, thermal conductivity and sound absorption behaviour are also investigated. The sound absorption property increases concerning areal density and fabric thickness. The thermal conductivity increased by increasing the fiber layer in the fabric to evaluate its potential as a protective barrier material in non-woven face masks.