PROCESSING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NONWOVEN FOR ACOUSTIC COMPOSITES APPLICATION Gopalakrishnan D II M.Tech student, Department of Textile Chemistry, SSM College of Engineering, Komarapalayam Namakkal– 638183 Tamilnadu, INDIA Email:dgk.psgtech@gmail.com Abstract The dynamical development of the technical civilisation depends to a greater and greater extent on development of the material engineering which still searches for the conventional materials with the unique mechanical and physical properties. The research carried out make possible to develop the general technological process that allow to fabricate composite materials consisting of the gutter waste of the cotton bounded by paper or another hollow fibres with the required properties. The advantage of the bonded composite materials is their simple technology, possibility of forming their properties, lowering manufacturing costs because of no costly finishing and lowering of material losses resulting from the possibility of forming any shape. This project attempted to develop nonwoven bonded fabric using coir, palmyra fibres and blends of coir/palmyra, coir/low melt polyester, palmyra/low melt polyester by using suitable web forming techniques. These were tested for GSM and sound absorption coefficient. Composites are multifunctional material systems that provide characteristics not obtainable from any discrete material. They are cohesive structures made by physically combining two or more compatible materials, different in composition and characteristics and sometimes in form. The composites industry has begun to recognize that the commercial applications of composites promise to offer much larger business opportunities than the aerospace sector due to the sheer size of transportation industry. The sound absorption properties for nonwovens composed of different fibers have been investigated by Kucuk and Korkmaz. Nonwovens with 70 percent cotton and 30 percent polyester showed the best sound absorption coefficient for higher frequency ranges. Adding acrylic and polypropylene materials into the cotton and polyester blend increased the sound absorption coefficient of the nonwoven in the lower frequency ranges. Some research has shown that nonwoven composites with cotton as a surface layer has higher sound absorption coefficients than glass fiber in the frequency range of 100 to 6400 Hz. Also, carbonization and activation of the cotton nonwoven improves the sound absorption performance significantly. Keywords: Sound absorption, Composites, Nonwovens Acknowledgement: The author has express his deep and profound gratitude to the project guide Dr.B.S.Dasaradan, Director - School of Textiles, Mrs.C.Premalatha - Head of the Department (Textile Chemistry) and Mrs.M.Indhumathi – Assistant professor (Textile Chemistry), of SSM College of Engineering, Komarapalayam, Namakkal District for their valuable guidance and support.