Production of organic bassoon reeds from thermoplastic matrix composite materials

Today the reed of the bassoon, which belongs to the family of wind instruments, is obtained from the Arundo Donax L The bassoon reed directly affects the characteristics of the sound obtained from the instrument. Depending on use, the reed cannot always prevent its sound properties at the same level. Consequently, its lifetime is very short. Synthetic reeds made of Polypropylene(PP) have been introduced. However, they don't fully match the sound and acoustic characteristics of traditional reeds. Accordingly, the development of the reed hasn't yet been fully completed. Aim of this thesis is to compare the acoustic properties of the Arundo Donax L., with synthetic samples. For this, thermoplastic matrix composite(TPMC) samples were produced. Carbon fiber(CF) was used as fiber and PP as matrix. The composite samples were produced using Hot Compression Moulding Process. The differences in temperature, pressure and matrix coefficients considered. Thermogravimetric Analysis(TGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry(DSC) and Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM) were used to analyses the raw materials. TGA was used to understand the moisture content of Arundo Donax L.SEM was used to study the internal structural properties of Arundo Donax L. and composite samples. Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) device was used to investigate the mechanical properties of the composite samples and Arundo Donax L. Elastic modulus(G'), loss modulus(G'') and Tanδ values obtained from DMA, as well as Quality Factor and Acoustic Conversion Efficiency values, which provide information about the acoustic properties of the samples, were calculated. The results were discussed in detail in line with the data obtained.