Sound absorption with soy fiber based thermoplastics

Uday Vaidya, Ahmed Arabi Hassen, Dominique Everett, Benjamin Willis, Zhang Li

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

Abstract

Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) is a major public health issue that is ranked as the third most common physical condition after arthritis and heart disease among adults in the U.S. The safety protocols recommend that workers exposed to noise should be controlled below a level equivalent to 85 dB for eight hours, to minimize occupational noise induced hearing loss. This work investigates the effectiveness of soy husk and soy fibers in thermoplastic polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) for sound absorption, because of their porous structure. The soybean thermoplastic composites were developed into panelized products for sound measurements. The applications include commercial and residential buildings, industrial and community spaces, educational institutions, hospitals, trucks, buses and automobiles. The results showed that soy based thermoplastic composites are effective for sound absorption. The Sound Absorption Coefficient (SAC) for the soy husk thermoplastic composites was found to be 0.2 to 0.3 and that of the continuous soy fiber thermoplastic composites were found to be 0.9, both being greater than commonly used acoustical materials.

Original languageEnglish
Pages2012-2020
Number of pages9
StatePublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes
Event2nd Annual Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, CAMX 2015 - Dallas, United States
Duration: Oct 26 2015Oct 29 2015

Conference

Conference2nd Annual Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, CAMX 2015
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityDallas
Period10/26/1510/29/15

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