Dynamic response of fly ash reinforced functionally graded rubber composite sandwiches - a Taguchi approach

Abstract

The dynamic analysis of jute-epoxy sandwiches with fly ash reinforced functionally gradient (FG) flexible, compliant rubber
core is presented. FG samples are prepared using conventional casting technique. Presence of gradation is quantified by weight
method. An attempt is made to study the influence of fly ash weight fraction, jute orientation and core to total thickness (C/H) of sandwich on damping ratio (DR) and natural frequency (NF). The design of experiments based upon L9 (33) orthogonal arrays by Taguchi is used. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and S/N (signal to noise) ratios analysis is performed on measured data to investigate the influence of material and geometrical parameters on dynamic response. An optimal parameter combination is determined which leads to higher DR and NF. A correlation derived from the results of Taguchi experimental design is proposed as a predictive equation for estimation of these properties of sandwiches. These correlations are obtained by multiple regressions. It is demonstrated that the predicted results obtained using these equations are consistent with experimental observations.