Damping analysis of nonwoven natural fibre-reinforced polypropylene composites used in automotive interior parts

The aim of this work is to evaluate the dynamic properties of nonwoven flax, hemp, kenaf and glass fibre-reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites. Also, the influence of some parameters, such as the type of reinforcement, the fibre/matrix weight ratio, the fibre orientation and the porosity content, on the damping behaviour of these nonwoven composites is investigated. To this end, a free flexural vibrations analysis was conducted to experimentally identify their natural frequencies and their associated loss factors. The obtained results show that the nonwoven composites reinforced by natural fibres present higher loss factors compared with those of the glass-PP composite. These interesting damping properties make these nonwoven composites very attractive for automotive applications where the dissipation of vibrations is highly requested. •A deep characterization of the damping behaviour of nonwoven composites is proposed.•Natural fibre-reinforced nonwovens exhibit higher damping coefficients than glass/PP composite.•The porosity content significantly enhances the damping in nonwoven composites.•A prediction of the damping properties in term of the porosity content is proposed.