Development of Hybrid Fibrous Panel For Controlling Acoustics in Home Theatre Conference Hall
Development of Hybrid Fibrous Panel For Controlling Acoustics in Home Theatre Conference Hall
Development of Hybrid Fibrous Panel For Controlling Acoustics in Home Theatre Conference Hall
@ IJTSRD | Available Online @ www.ijtsrd.com | Volume – 2 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2018 Page: 1375
International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) ISSN: 2456-6470
I. INTRODUCTION turned towards the production of insulating materials
The word acoustic is form a Greek word which means by using natural and bio based materials.
hearing and science of sound and is about the
production, dissemination, transmission and control of Natural fibres have many advantages compare to
sound. Sound can produce feelings of pleasure and synthetic fibres, for example low cost, recyclable,
displeasure. The sound which is undesirable is called biodegradable and huge availability often as a waste
noise. A noise does not exist unless there is a product [2, 3]. Natural materials are becoming a valid
dissenting observer. Noise may consist of a single alternative to synthetic materials for making sound
pure tone or many tones at different frequencies and absorption panels at a reduced cost and have good
intensities. Annoyances caused by noise are stress, thermal insulation properties, have no harmful effects
feeling of fear, sleep disturbances and speech on health and environment. Diameter of natural fibers
interferences. Nevertheless, the rapidly growing tends to be larger than synthetic fibers, and also
social conscience of people and the increase of natural fibers have more irregular shapes in cross
machine noise in general have combined to give great section and transverse dimensions. These properties
drive towards the study and control of noise. Hence, make more interest in making sound absorption
the noise isolation in buildings is necessary. The material with natural fibres. Various studies proposed
sources of noise and vibration are recognizable and the sound absorbent materials from cotton, jute,
can be controlled by using absorbents. When sound bamboo, kenaf, kapok, flax, ramie, wood, hemp,
wave impinges any materials, the sound energy may coconut, cork, cane, cardboard, sisal and sheep wool
be reflected, refracted, transmitted and absorbed. All fibres.
materials have some sound absorbing properties. A
sound reflector forms a solid, impermeable barrier and Coir is a natural organic fibre which is the seed-hair
prevents sound transmission. Human ear will fibre obtained from the outer shell (endocarp) or husk
acknowledge as sound when frequency is in the range of coconut. Coconut fiber has excellent
of 20 to 20000 Hz but more sensitive in the frequency characteristics of thermal insulation and sound
range of 500 to 4000 Hz. absorption. In building panels, the coconut fiber is
often mixed with binders to improve the
Nonwoven fiber webs can be considered as noise characteristics of rigidity, anti-fungus, and
control elements for a wide range of applications, flammability. According to official website of
such as acoustic ceilings and barriers, carpets, and International Year for Natural Fibres 2009,
wall claddings. A nonwoven is composed of air and approximately, 500 000 tonnes of coconut fibres are
fibre phases that react differently with the sound produced annually worldwide, mainly in India and
wave. Even though those materials have excellent Srilanka. Its total value is estimated at $100 million.
acoustic properties at high frequencies, their structural India and Srilanka are also the main exporters,
properties are not enough to defend against low followed by Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.
frequency noise expect for their possible harm to Around half of the coconut fibres produced is
human health [1]. However, resonance absorbing exported in the form of raw fibre. This shows that the
materials have high absorption coefficients at low and coir fibre have potential to be used as raw material for
medium frequencies. It is clear that a sound absorber making sound insulation panels.
including only one type of acoustical absorbing
material is unable to attenuate wide-frequency noise. Fouladi et al. studied a coir-based samples produced
The commercial efficient sound absorbents are using fresh coconut husk with or without the addition
available only in porous structures in the form of fibre of a binder and concluded that the raw coconut fiber
felts, foams and composites and are based on resulted in a good sound absorption coefficient at both
petrochemicals such as rock wool, glass wool, low and medium frequencies, although in thicker
polyester and polyurethane [2]. Increased usage of layers, the behaviour was much more remarkable [4].
synthetic sound absorption materials leads to higher Mohd et al (2010) analysed the effect of different
CO2 emission and other environmental issues. factors of coir fibre in sound absorption and results
Building’s CO2 emissions have been steadily showed that increasing coir fiber layer thickness
increasing since 1990 and heating and air increases the absorption and moves absorption peak
conditioning account for almost two thirds of building towards low frequency for both cases [5]. Increasing
energy consumption. Therefore, many researches the thickness of material enhanced the sound
@ IJTSRD | Available Online @ www.ijtsrd.com | Volume – 2 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2018 Page: 1376
International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) ISSN: 2456-6470
absorption in lower frequencies having same average work is to develop fibrous composite panel from
absorption coefficient. Also in another study, Mohd et nonwoven porous coir matt and micro perforated
al analysed the effect of compression on the acoustic panels for sound insulation for home
performance of single layer coir panel and observed theatres/conference hall. The samples are assembled
that higher compression rate corresponds to the strong to various configurations like nonwoven porous coir
acoustic absorption which is greater than the matt mounted with and with-out air gap, perforated
uncompressed coir fiber. Studies were conducted to panel faced porous coir matt with and with-out air gap
measure transmission loss index and acoustic and perforated panel mounted with air gap [10].
absorption coefficient and made a comparison
between them by using natural organic fiber II. THEORY
perforated panels with or without filler. The result Sound propagation in Micro Perforated Panels –
from experimental works and simulation of multi- Maa’s Theory
layer coir fiber showed good absorption coefficient in The MPP absorbers have a simple structure and
reducing noise in all spaces. absorption characteristics that are exactly predictable.
The panel may be made of any material from
Multi-purpose concert halls face a dilemma and they cardboard, plastic, plywood to sheet metal, with any
host classical music concerts, rock concerts and finishing or decoration to suit the purpose. In a
spoken word performances in a matter of a short perforated panel, the energy dissipation of a sound
period. These different performance types require wave into heat is produced by viscous thermal losses
significantly different acoustic conditions in order to inside the perforations. As the air molecules travels
provide the best sound quality to both the performers through the perforations, friction losses occur. This
and the audience [6]. A recommended reverberation effect can be enhanced by reducing the diameter of
time for classical music may be in the range of 1.5 - 2 the perforation to the submillimeter size. An MPP
seconds, rock music sounds around 0.8-1.5 seconds placed in front of a rigid wall acts as a resonator. The
for empty halls. Modern rhythmic music often air volume between the panels and the wall plays the
contains high levels of sound energy in the low role of spring. It is compared to a Helmholtz
frequency bands but still requires a high definition for resonator that can be tuned to provide a maximum of
good sound quality. Therefore, in recent years, multi- absorption in a determined resonance frequency. The
layer acoustic absorbers have been developed and approximated and exact theory of an MPP was first
composed of perforated plates, airspaces and porous proposed by Maa in 1975 and 1998 respectively [11-
materials to absorb broadband noise. However, the 13]. The single layer of MPP mounted at distance D
acoustic absorption of these multi-layer acoustic from a rigid wall is assumed to equivalent electro-
absorbers is mainly dependent on their fabrication. acoustical circuit as shown in Figure 1b. The sound
Zulkifi et al (2008) experimented the performance of wave impinging on the structure is equivalent to a
coir fibre with perforated panel facing and results source of sound pressure 2p as produced on the rigid
showed that coir fibre with perforated panel have wall with the time factor exp ( − jt ) suppressed
higher sound absorption for the low frequencies [7]. throughout (analogous to the open-circuit voltage) and
Increasing the sound absorption at low frequency can internal resistance c as that of air with the air
be a great contribution to noise control engineering. density and c the sound speed. The equivalent circuit
Air gap or perforated facing is usually used to of a single layer of MPP mounted at distance D from
enhance the absorption at low frequency. Ayub et al. a rigid wall, where r and m are the specific acoustic
(2009) developed a panel composed of coir fibre layer resistance and reactance of the perforations [14-15].
in different thickness 20mm, 35mm and 50 mm with
air gap backed by rigid wall was used to analyze the
acoustic absorption performance of coir fibre and
found that addition of air gap moves the absorption
towards low frequencies [8]. Zulkifli et al (2010)
Studied the performance of sound absorber consisted
perforated plate with porous coir backing and found
that porous layer backing can improve noise
absorption coefficient at low and high frequencies Figure1. Schematic diagrams of MPP absorber and
with significant increasing [9]. The aim of present its equivalent circuit
@ IJTSRD | Available Online @ www.ijtsrd.com | Volume – 2 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2018 Page: 1377
International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) ISSN: 2456-6470
According to Maa’s theory, the specific impedance of most midrange and high frequencies), the absorption
a MPP is equal to the specific acoustic impedance of a coefficient of the material (typically related to the
single tube (plus end corrections) divided by the density of the materials) and the angle of incidence
perforation ratio (total area of the perforation on a unit for the sound wave. There are two stages in travelling
area of panel), thus the specific acoustic impedance of of sound wave: 1st Stage- from the speaker to wall
MPP normalized by c (the characteristic impedance through the absorptive layer and 2nd Stage- pass back
of air) can be calculated by from wall to ear through the absorptive layer [9].
Z1 During the travel, the sound wave gets attenuated and
zMPP = = r + jm loss its energy. The attenuation is due to transmission
pc of sound wave through the panel and transitions into a
different medium. There is an impedance mismatch in
With various stages i.e. between the air and the panel, the
32 t t k
2
2k d
panel and the air behind the panel, the air and the
r= 1+ + wall, the wall and the air behind the panel, the air
pc d 2 32 8 t behind the panel and the panel again between the
panel and the listen in room. This impedance
mismatch causes the original sound wave to lose
t 1 d
m = additional energy.
1 + 2
+ 0.85
pc 2 k t
3 +
32 Many models are available for predicting the sound
absorption mechanisms in the pores of porous
materials and are generally distinguished based on
Where k is the perforation constant, k = d / 4 and distinctive absorption mechanism and the type of
p is the perforation ratio, p = 78.5d 2 / b2 if the holes pores. Delany and Bazley found to be a simple model
for predicting acoustic behaviour of fibrous porous
are arranged in squares separated by spacing ( b mm)
absorbing materials only employing the non-
[16]. The normal specific acoustic impedance of air
acoustical characteristics of air flow resistivity.
cavity behind the MPP, again normalized by c :
According to their model, complex wave propagation
Z D = − j cot( D / c ) constant 𝛾𝑓 and characteristic impedance 𝑍𝑓 of porous
material depend mainly on the angular frequency ω
Based on the equivalent circuit, the normalised and on the flow resistivity𝜎 . A good fit of the
specific acoustic impedance of the entire structure can measured values of 𝛾𝑓 and 𝑍𝑓 has been obtained with
be calculated by the following expressions:
z = r + j m − j cot( D / c)
f =
2 f
c
1 + 0.0978 X −0.7 − j 0.189 X −0.595
For normal incidence of sound wave, the absorption
coefficient derived by
4r
Z f = c 1 + 0.057 X
−0.754
− j (0.087 X
−0.732
)
= 2
(1 + r ) + ( m − cot( D / c )
2 f
X =
The maximum absorption coefficient is
4r Where, 𝜌 is the air density, C is the sound speed in
max = 2 the air, f is the frequency of the sound wave, 𝐿𝑓 is the
(1 + r )
thickness of porous layer.
Sound propagation in Porous Material Delany and Bazley suggest the following boundary
As the sound wave from the speaker travels through for the validity of their laws in terms of boundaries of
the absorbing material on its way to the wall, its b, as follows: 0.01 < X < 1. It may not be expected
magnitude is reduced. The amount of reduction is that single relations provides a perfect prediction of
related to a number of factors such as the frequency of acoustic behaviour of all the porous materials in the
the sound, the thick of the material (4 inches of frequency range defined in the above equation.
absorptive material is typically sufficient to absorb
@ IJTSRD | Available Online @ www.ijtsrd.com | Volume – 2 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2018 Page: 1378
International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) ISSN: 2456-6470
If the porous material is backed with a rigid wall, the Porous coir matt samples
surface acoustic impedance of the porous material can Coconut fibre is extracted from the outer shell of a
be expressed as coconut. The common name, scientific name and
(
f = Z f cot h cot h f L f ) plant family of coconut fibre is Coir, Cocos nucifera
and Arecaceae (palm) respectively. The coconut
fibres have excellent sound absorption characteristics
Sound propagation in air and thermal insulation. White or green coir fibres
The complex wave propagation constant 𝛾𝑎 and may be extracted from green coconuts and brown
characteristic impedance 𝑍𝑎 of air can be expressed fibres may be extracted from fully matured coconuts.
as, The brown coir fibres were collected from Pollachi,
2 f Tamil nadu and dried using drying chamber. The
a = jk a = j
c dried coir fibre is then processed in hackler machine
Za = c in two stages for effective fibre opening, removing
husk and dust from fibres. The opened fibres are then
passed to needle punching machine where the fibres
If the air gap is backed with a rigid wall, the surface
are made to entangle and formed as a sheet. Figure 2
acoustic impedance of the air gap can be expressed as shows the various images about coconut plant. In
a = Z a cot h cot h ( a La ) order to get the structural integration, 22% of the
natural rubber latex was sprayed over the coir matt
Where, 𝐿𝑎 is the thickness of air space, ka is the wave and cured. Finally, the porous coir matt was prepared
number of air. in 3 different thickness of 15mm, 20mm and 30mm
and their densities are 110 kg/m3,110 kg/m3 and 90
III. MATERIALS kg/m3 respectively.
Micro perforated panels (MPP)
The panel may be made of any material from
cardboard, plastic, plywood to sheet metal, with any
finishing or decoration to suit the purpose.
Wooden/plywood panels are selected as it is a natural
material and environmentally friendly. These panels
can be easily processed into perforated panel and
installed as indoor acoustical panels. Plywood of
3.4mm thickness was purchased from local market
with density of 67.27 kg/m3 and perforations were
made using a hand drill. Considering the sound
frequency to be absorbed and drill configurations, the
perforation diameter and hole spacing were optimized
to 0.6mm and 4mm respectively. The physical
properties of micro perforated panels used in this
work are summarized in Table 1.
@ IJTSRD | Available Online @ www.ijtsrd.com | Volume – 2 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2018 Page: 1379
International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) ISSN: 2456-6470
Table2. Physical properties of porous coir matt IV. TESTING METHODS
samples Sound Absorption Coefficient by Impedance Tube
Sample Thickness Weight Density Method (ISO 10534-2)
ID (mm) (g/m2) (Kg/m3) The current focus on noise-control issues and the
C1 15 1650 110 importance of sound quality, acoustical
C2 15 2625 175 characterization of product is becoming increasingly
C3 15 3150 210 relevant to manufacturers/designers. The acoustic
C4 20 2200 110 characterization of MPP backed by porous coir matt
C5 25 2750 110 and air gap were tested at PSGTECH’S COE-
INDUTECH, Coimbatore using impedance tube
Nonwoven scrim method. This method is one of the well accepted test
Hydro entangled nonwoven was considered for this method for measuring the sound absorption
work and purchased from commercial market. Hydro measurement and the normal incidence sound
entangled nonwoven made from 80/20 absorption coefficient was determined using the
Viscose/Polyester fibres with 0.55mm thickness, transfer function method according to standard ISO
weight of 100 g/m2 and have flow resistivity of 230 10534-2. Figure 4 shows a sketch of the Bruel
Pa. s/ m. &Kjaer Standing Wave Apparatus. Impedance Tube
Kit (50 Hz – 6.4 kHz) Type 4206 consists of: a 100
Experimental procedure mm diameter tube (large tube), a 29 mm diameter
Figure 3 shows the representation of various tube (small tube), sample holders (29 and 100 mm)
configurations of samples followed during and extension tubes (29 and 100 mm). A large-tube
measurements. Porous coir matt samples, MPP and setup is used to measure parameters in the frequency
air gap are considered for making effective range from 50 Hz to 1.6 kHz and small tube setup in
experimental procedure. the frequency range from 500 Hz to 6.4 kHz.
@ IJTSRD | Available Online @ www.ijtsrd.com | Volume – 2 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2018 Page: 1380
International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) ISSN: 2456-6470
then the incident and reflected waves have the same Effect of nonwoven scrim backing on MPP
amplitude; the nodes in the pipe have zero pressure Figure 6 shows the comparison of sound absorption
and the antinodes have double the pressure. If some of coefficient of single leaf MPP with and without
the incident sound energy is absorbed by the sample, nonwoven scrim backing followed by air gap. The
then the incident and reflected waves have different results of sample S1 and S2 are insignificant for the
amplitudes; the nodes in the pipe no longer have zero frequency range 63 – 160 Hz; increase noticed in
pressure. By measuring the sound pressure at two absorption coefficient of S2 for the frequency range
fixed locations and calculating the complex transfer 200 – 3150 Hz compared to S1. Also, the maximum
function using a two-channel digital frequency absorption and resonance frequency of S2 are 0.86
analyzer, it is possible to determine the sound and 500 Hz respectively which is lower than S1 (0.97
absorption and complex reflection coefficients and the and 630 Hz). The addition of nonwoven scrim at the
normal acoustic impedance of the material. In order back of MPP increases the acoustic resistance of
to get accuracy and repeatability, three set of samples entire system and lead to reduction in maximum
were developed in each configuration and sound absorption coefficient.
absorption coefficient was measured. The average of
three measurements in all the configurations has been
considered for comparison between the samples.
@ IJTSRD | Available Online @ www.ijtsrd.com | Volume – 2 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2018 Page: 1381
International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) ISSN: 2456-6470
@ IJTSRD | Available Online @ www.ijtsrd.com | Volume – 2 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2018 Page: 1382
International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) ISSN: 2456-6470
Effect of MPP thickness 2. Ghotbi Ravandi, M. R., Mardi H., Langari
Figure 10 shows the absorption curve of sample S6 A.A.A., Mohammadian M. and Khanjani N., “A
and S7. The trends of absorption curve at low Review on the Acoustical Properties of Natural
frequencies are based on MPP configuration and trend and Synthetic Noise Absorbents”, Open Access
of absorption curve at high frequencies are based on Library Journal, Vol. 2 / 2015,
porous coir matt in both the samples. The sample S6 http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1101598
and S7 have maximum absorption coefficient of 0.56 3. Hoda Soliman Seddeq, Nermin M Aly, Ali Marwa
at 1000Hz and 0.69 at 800Hz respectively. This is A. And Elshakankery M.H., “Investigation on
due to increase in thickness of sample S7 compared to Sound Absorption Properties for Recycled Fibrous
S6. Hence, increasing thickness of MPP shifts the Materials”, Journal of Industrial Textiles, Vol. 43,
absorption curve towards low frequencies. No.1/2012, pp. 56-73.
4. Mohd Jailani Mohd Nor., Ayub Md., Rozli
Zulkifli., Nowshad Amin and Mohammad
Hosseini Fouladi, “Effect of Different Factors on
the Acoustic Absorption of Coir Fiber”, Journal of
Applied Sciences, Vol.10 /2010, pp. 2887-2892.
5. Mohd Jailani Mohd Nor., Ayub Md., Rozli
Zulkifli., Nowshad Amin and Mohammad
Hosseini Fouladi, “Effect of Compression on the
Acoustic Absorption of Coir Fibre”, American
Journal of Applied Sciences, Vol.7, No. 9/2010,
Figure10. Absorption characteristics of different pp.1285-1290.
configuration of MPP backed by porous matt
6. Niels Werner Larsen, Eric R. Thompson and
VI. CONCLUSION Anders C. Gade, “Variable Low Frequency
The prediction of acoustic performance of MPP was Absorbers for Multipurpose Concert Halls”,
much useful in designing the MPP with respect to the Viewed on 10 August 2016,
end uses. The insertions of porous nonwoven coir <www.flexac.com/wp-
matt support the absorption and provide wide band content/uploads/2014/05/ASA2005vari.pdf>
absorption. The sound absorption of MPP backed by 7. Rozli Zulkifli, Zulkarnain and Mohd Jailani Mohd
porous nonwoven coir matt follow the trend of MPP Noor, “Noise Control Using Coconut Coir Fiber
at low frequency and porous nonwoven matt at higher Sound Absorber with Porous Layer Backing and
frequency. If the MPP is optimized to its maximum Perforated Panel”, American Journal of Applied
absorption characteristics, the acoustic of the MPP is Sciences, Vol. 7, No.2/2010, pp.260-264.
higher and addition of porous nonwoven coir matt
also adds further resistance to the system. In this 8. Ayub M. D., Mohd Nor M. J., Now shad Amin
case, the sound absorption characteristic of porous and Rozli Zulkifi, “A Preliminary Study of Effect
nonwoven coir matt is insignificant. In order to get of Air Gap on Sound Absorption of Natural Coir
wide band absorber with MPP backed by porous Fibre”, Proceedings of the regional engineering
nonwoven coir matt and air gap, the compromise is postgraduate conference, Malaysia, 20 & 21
required in designing the MPP. October/2009.
9. Zulkifi R., Mohd Nor M. J., Mat Tahir M. F.,
VII. REFERENCES Ismail A.R. and Nuawi M. Z., “Acoutstic
1. Maria Ernestina Alves Fidelis, Thatiana Vitorino properties of Multi-layer Coir fibres Sound
Castro Pereira, Otávio da Fonseca Martins Gomes, Absorption Panel”, Journal of Applied Sciences,
Flávio de Andrade Silva and Romildo Dias Vol. 8, No. 20/2008, pp.3709-3714.
Toledo Filho, ” The effect of fiber morphology on
10. Zulkifi R., Mohd Nor M. J., Mat Tahir M. F.,
the tensile strength of natural fibers”, Journal of
Ismail A.R. and Nuawi M.Z., “Acoutstic
Materials Research and Technology, DOI:
Properties of Multi-layer Coir fibres Sound
10.1016/j.jmrt.2013.02.003, Vol. 2, 2013, pp.149-
Absorption Panel”, Journal of Applied Sciences,
157,
Vol. 8, No. 20/2008, pp.3709-3714.
@ IJTSRD | Available Online @ www.ijtsrd.com | Volume – 2 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2018 Page: 1383
International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) ISSN: 2456-6470
11. Maa DY. Theory and design of micro perforated by Simulated Annealing”, PhD Thesis, 2012,
panel sound-absorbing constructions. Sci Sinica University Polytechnic of Madrid, Spain.
1975; 17:55–71. 17. Sakagami K et al, “Sound Absorption
12. Maa DY. Micro perforated-panel wideband Characteristics of A Single Micro perforated Panel
absorber. Noise controls Eng J 1987; 29:77–84. Absorber Backed by A Porous Absorbent Layer”,
Acoustics Australia, Vol.39/No.3, 2011, pp.95-
13. Maa DY. Potential of micro perforated panel
100.
absorber. J Acoust Soc Am 1998;104:2861–6
18. Val Yachmenev, Ioan Negulescu and Chen Yan.,
14. Rayleigh L. Theory of sound. 2nd Ed. New York:
“Thermal Insulation Properties of Cellulosic-
Dover Publications; 1945.
based Nonwoven Composites”, Journal of
15. Crandall IB. Theory of vibrating systems and Industrial Textiles, Vol. 36, No. 1/2006, pp. 73-
sound. New York: Van Notrand; 1926. 87.
16. Heidi Ruiz Villamil, “Acoustic Properties of
Micro perforated Panels and Their Optimization
@ IJTSRD | Available Online @ www.ijtsrd.com | Volume – 2 | Issue – 6 | Sep-Oct 2018 Page: 1384