A Study on Sound and Vibration of Rigid Polyurethane Composite for Slab Railway Applications

Abstract

Rail transport is the dominant means of public transport in most of major cities. The common problems occurred
with trains transportation are the excessive amount of vibration and noise on the slab of the railway track.
Polyurethane foam are used to make any objects to be more supportive, durable, yet comfortable. Polyurethane (PU)
and areca properties show the ability of the material to absorb vibration and sound. This paper studies the sound
and vibration of a rigid polyurethane (PU) composite foam doped with different percentage of areca 2.5%, 5%,
7.5% and 10%, respectively. The sound measurement conducted by impedance test tube followed the ASTM E 1050-
12 and the vibration transmissibility by vibration shaker followed to the ASTM D3580-95 standard test method for
vibration in vertical linear motion. The sample of 10% rigid PU composite shows the highest sound absorption at the
range of 1000-2000 Hz with sound coefficient of 0.7. The vibration transmissibility shows the highest ability of PU
composite to retard the vibration is 7.5 % doped with Areca fiber which is around 60-80 Hz. Thus, from this study
revealed that the rigid PU composite doped with Areca fiber has a potential to be used for sound and vibration
absorption in the slab of the railway track.