Natural-Fiber Honeycomb Perforated Sandwich Panels with Wedges for Sound Insulation in Rooms

Seng, Fu Xiang (2024) Natural-Fiber Honeycomb Perforated Sandwich Panels with Wedges for Sound Insulation in Rooms. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

This study investigated the development of sustainable sound insulation panels using natural fibers for noise control in built environments. Two types of natural fiber-based honeycomb sandwich panels were designed and analyzed a natural-based honeycomb sandwich panel (NHSP) with perforated facing, and a proposed natural-based honeycomb-anechoic wedges sandwich panel (NHAWSP) with integrated anechoic wedges in the honeycomb core. The panels were fabricated using renewable banana fibers and coconut coir fibers as the core materials. Numerical simulations were conducted to evaluate the vibro-acoustic performance and mechanical properties of the NHSP and NHAWSP designs. Results showed the NHAWSP exhibited superior sound insulation capabilities compared to the NHSP baseline. At 400 Hz, the coconut coir NHAWSP achieved 68 dB outlet sound pressure level compared to 73 dB for the NHSP, while the banana fiber NHAWSP reached 65 dB versus 70 dB for the NHSP. The NHAWSP also demonstrated higher sound transmission loss, such as 33 dB at 200 Hz for coconut coir compared to 25 dB for the NHSP. The anechoic wedges significantly enhanced low-to-medium frequency sound absorption between 50-1200 Hz. Moreover, the NHAWSP exhibited improved structural integrity due to the reinforced honeycomb core design. Although incurring a mass penalty of 32.24% for coconut coir and 32.61% for banana fiber over the NHSP, the NHAWSP’s better acoustic performance justified this trade-off. This research highlighted the potential of renewable natural fiber-based sandwich panels with anechoic wedges as an effective and sustainable solution for low-to-medium frequency noise insulation in interior rooms.