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A Brief Review on Sound Absorption Characteristics of

Nonwoven Structures





Jagannath Sardar
(2008TTZ8165)









Department of Textile Technology
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
New Delhi 110016
December 11, 2008



1
Abstract:

For a healthy and a pleasant environment, controlling the sound hazards is an important issue.
It is medical evidence, that the human body will takes sound as pollution if the ambient sound
levels exceed 65dB. This sound pollution leads to significant health problems including
hypertension, dizziness, depression, and most commonly, loss of hearing [1, 2].Noise control and
its principles play an important role in creating an acoustically pleasing environment. This can be
achieved when the intensity of sound is brought down to a level that is not harmful to human
ears.
Various techniques have been developed by using different materials to make a pleasing
environment. The sound absorbing materials absorbs the sound energy and it converts to the
thermal energy when the sound wave strikes the fibers assembly. This process is called an energy
conversion process. Many research papers revealed that the fibrous materials (textile) have a
good affinity to absorb the sound energy [3, 6, 8]. The porous materials can reduce the acoustic
energy of a sound wave as the wave passes through it by the phenomenon of absorption.
Acoustic porous materials can have porosity greater than 90%. Common sound absorptive
materials have open cells, which is called pores [4, 5, 7]. Foam and fibre assembly like
nonwovens are basically known as porous materials and it has been observed that those materials
have good sound absorption property. In some cases wood and composite materials are also be
used as a sound absorptive and barrier materials. For porous and fibrous materials, acoustic
performance is defined by a set of experimentally determined constants namely: absorption
coefficient, reflection coefficient, acoustic impedance, propagation constant, normal reduction
coefficient and transmission loss. These parameters are depends on some factors like fibre
diameter, fiber surface area, thickness, bulk density, porosity, airflow resistivity, tortuosity and
surface impedance.
In this report we have measured the noise absorption coefficient (NAC) and noise reduction
coefficient (NRC) of different nonwovens of polypropylene fibre in different thickness. It has
been found that the needle punched polypropylene has higher NAC value and it proves that NAC
value is higher in case of higher thickness [8, 42, 45].
In acoustic engineering, the sound absorptive materials have an important role according to its
applications, such as aeronautical industry, industrial noise control, room acoustics and
automotive and acoustics [16, 21].
2
1. Introduction:

A sound wave can be defined as the pattern of disturbance caused by the movement of energy
traveling through a medium (such as air, water, or any other liquid or solid matter) as it
propagates away from the source of the sound.
The vibration can be described as some object that causes disturbs the particles in the
surrounding medium; those particles disturb those next to them, and so on. Sound travels through
the air (gas), water (liquid) or brick (solid), as a pressurized longitudinal wave. In a longitudinal
wave the particle displacement is parallel to the direction of wave propagation. And transverse
wave the particle displacement is perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation [9].
The compressing and expanding of the air produces differences in air pressure. The pressure
differences in the air move away from the drum surface like ripples in a pond, creating a sound
wave. This is how the drum produces a sound that we can hear.
To generate sound, it is necessary to have a vibrating source, such as the tuning fork shown here.
When the source vibrates, it displaces adjacent particles and molecules in the medium, causing
them to vibrate back and forth as well. Their vibrations cause more distant particles to vibrate,
and so on. The audible sound that we hear is made up of tiny vibrations of air molecules, which
are transmitted to our ears. This transmission of vibrations, starting from the source and
continuing from one molecule to the next, is how sound travels through a medium [10].
Sound intensity is defined as the sound power per unit area. The usual context is the
measurement of sound intensity in the air at a listener's location. The basic units are watts/m
2
or
watts/cm
2
. Many sound intensity measurements are made relative to a standard threshold of
hearing intensity I
0
[11]



Sound Intensity Level (dB) can be expressed by the intensity, since intensity is nothing but the
energy. It is expressed by [12]


When this level exceeds the limit 65 dB then its called Noise or Sound Hazards [1, 2].
The final expression for the acoustic intensity becomes [13],
) . (
Energy(E)
Area(a)
Power(P)
I) Intensity(
t a time Area
= =
) log( 10
0
I
I
=
3

where p = p
rms
. We will show that this same expression also applies for a spherical sound wave
and for a non-spherical sound wave. The human ear can detect a wide range of sound intensities.
The decibel scale (dB) is commonly used to deal with the wide range in pressure, intensity,
power, and energy that are encountered in acoustics. Levels in decibels are defined using the
preferred SI reference quantities for acoustics in Table 1.1 (ISO 1683); these reference quantities
are used for all figures in the book [14].

Table 1.1 Sound definitions of levels in decibels

Sound hazard system can be divided into three elements [13, 15], such as
1. Noise Source: The element which vibrates in a particular frequency and make noise hazards
in the air.
2. Noise Path: The medium through which the acoustical energy
propagates from one point to another and
3. Noise Receiver: The person who could potentially complain about the
quantity or level of noise as perceived at same point
Noise control and its principles play an important role in creating an acoustically pleasing
environment. This can be achieved when the intensity of sound is brought down to a level that is
not harmful to human health [30]. It is medical evidence, that the human body will takes sound
as pollution if the ambient sound levels exceed 65dB. This sound pollution leads to significant
4
health problems including hypertension, dizziness, depression, and most commonly, loss of
hearing [1, 2]. From the early 10 decades, lots of considerable research and developments have
been done for dampening the sound intensity levels to control sound pollution. A various
application area of the noise reduction techniques [16, 17, 5, 18, 8] are as Aeronautical
Engineering, interiors of cars and public transport, hospital rooms, auditoriums, and laboratories
etc. Multi-layered panels are widely used in aircraft, automotive and building industries. The
sound transmission loss (TL) provided by the panels is an important factor in evaluating the
acoustical performance of such panels [19].
It is obvious that various techniques used to reduce the noise levels using different sound
absorbing materials [20, 21]. One reliable technique is to absorb the sound energy and converts
to thermal energy.
Different fibrous material such as different nonwoven textiles, porous foam, composite or other
materials are extensively used for the same aspects.
Many literatures reveals that nonwoven porous materials have a high impact characteristic to
absorb the sound energy [3, 24, 25, 26], hence, nonwovens have fibrous quantity and air. Due to
this combination, nonwovens absorb the sound energy and convert it to heat by the mechanism
of thermodynamics and aerodynamics principle [6, 22, 23].

2. Materials for sound absorption:
Sound absorptive materials can be classified into three categories such as absorptive materials,
Barrier materials and damping material. [27]. These sound absorptive materials can be included
rugs, carpet with felt pads, heavy drapes etc. [28] The sound wave passes through the porous and
fibrous structural materials which transfer the aerodynamics energy to thermodynamics by the
phenomenon of absorption [27 ]. These materials are mostly used to control the acoustic
environment by dampening the sound energy of the resultant waves which is called reflective
wave. If the incident wave is a plane wave, and the structural properties of the slab do not change
in the direction of wave propagation, the transmitted wave will also be a plane wave traveling in
the same direction as the incident wave [7]. Absorptive materials are generally resistive in
nature, either fibrous, porous or in rather special cases reactive resonators [27]. Classic examples
of resistive material are nonwovens, fibrous glass, mineral wools, felt and foams. Porous
materials used for noise control are generally categorized as fibrous medium or porous foam.
5
Fibrous media usually consists of rock wool or glass, polyester fibers and have high acoustic
absorption. Sometimes fire resistant fibers are also used in making acoustical products [29, 30].
Kannan Allampalayam Jayaraman [30] obtained his ms research preparing the nonwoven
samples, in needle punched and thermally bonded process, using kenaf fibre and PET in different
blend percentage. He explained and shows that the materials which he has used are efficient for
noise absorption.
Often sound barriers are confused with sound absorbing materials. Generally materials that
provide good absorption are poor barriers. K.O.Ballagh [8] explained that the acoustical
properties, i.e. Barriers and damping of the materials, the mass of the material, do not depend
strongly on the flow resistivity, and so, provided that it is within +20% of the desired value, the
acoustical properties should be maintained.no direct effect on the performance of the absorptive
materials [8]. Some of the acoustical fibric which are available in the market, has shown bellow
[fig. 2.1(a), 2.1(b)].

(a) (b)
Figure 2.1 (a) CrossPoint Acoustical Wall Fabric and b) EcoSorpt Recycled Cotton Panels

Michael Coates and Marek Kierzkowsld [31] explained that, bulk porous absorbers, such as
fiberglass or mineral wool batts or blankets, and needle punched, resin or thermally bonded
fibrous textiles, are well known and all qualify as rigid porous absorbers. Flow resistive screens
can provide similar performance to the high-loft materials, without the bulk. Thin lightweight
acoustic textiles, such as INC Engineered Materials Deci-Tex range, act as flexible porous
screens. They also said, for porous fibrous sound absorbers, it has been demonstrated that the
flow resistance is a function of density. Fibre packing density decreases the air permeability,
with a resultant increase in pressure drop and hence flow resistance. For increased sound
absorption at a given thickness, a higher-density fibrous material is used. [31]
6
An absorber, when backed by a barrier, reduces the energy in a sound wave by converting the
mechanical motion of the air particles into low grade heat. This action prevents a buildup of
sound in enclosed spaces and reduces the strength of reflected noise [27].
David Frankovich [32] has shown that the porous nature of absorptive materials renders them
susceptible to contamination, moisture retention and deterioration due to physical abuse. To
avoid these problems, facings may be attached to at least one side of the absorber.


Figure 2.2 Performance of Various 1-inch Acoustical Foams with Surface Treatments

The addition of a facing to acoustical foam has the effect of increasing the lower frequency
absorption at the expense of the higher frequencies [32]. Later on we will discus regarding the
performance of absorptive materials which depends on some parameters of the used samples.

3. Influence of different factors for Sound absorption characteristics of
fibrous materials:
Many literatures have revealed that how the different factors influenced to the characteristics of
sound absorption of the fibrous assembly [33, 3, 8, 6, 34]. A porous material with a non-porous
barrier bonded to the face of the material carries the sound energy in the form of the structure-
borne wave. The factors that have a strong influence on the structure-borne wave are the bulk
stiffness and the structural loss factor. For most porous materials, noise absorption coefficient
generally depends on such three factors as: flow resistance, porosity, morphology of pores, etc.
[35]. Summary from some literatures are cited below.
7
3.1. Fibre diameter:
Young Joo Na, Jeff Lancaster, John Casali and Gilsoo Cho [36] has explained that the microfiber
fabric has fine fibres and a high surface area and it has been used in such applications as wipers,
thermal insulator, filters or breathable layers. It can be also used for sound absorption. They have
taken five microfibre fabrics of polyester and nylon in different blend percentage and one regular
fibre fabric of 100% polyester for the reverberation room method. The results showed that the
micro-fibre fabrics sound absorption is superior to that of conventional fabric with the same
thickness or weight, and the micro-fibre fabrics structure was found to be important for
controlling sound absorption according to sound frequency. In the given table (3.1) shows the
NRC(Noise Reduction Coefficient) changes with frequency.


Table 3.1 Sound absorption coefficients of micro-fiber fabrics and fleece.

From the table we can see that the NRC is higher in case of microfibre fabrics than the regular
fabric (fleece fabric).
Youneung Lee and Changwhan Joo [33] explained that the NAC of the sample is proportional to
the in the fine fibre contents upto a certain frequency range[37]. Increasing the frequency beyond
1500 Hz, NAC curve shows no clear tendency with fine fibre content. Youneung Lee et al. have
used 3 different parametric recyled polyester fibres like 1.2, 2, 7 denier and 38mm length and for
bond purpose 6 denier, 42 mm low melting polyester fibre in different percentage.

8

Figure 3.1 Effect of fine fibre contents on sound absorption properties

K. A. Jayaraman [30] has observed that the finer size PET absorbs more sound than other fibers.
This is because finer linear density allows more fibers per volume (fig. 3.1, fig. 3.2), more
contact area and more tortuous channels allowing more absorption. Moreover fine fibers move
relatively more easily than coarser fibers which causes finer fibers to convert acoustic energy
into heat more easily than coarser fibers.


Figure 3.2 Sound absorption of fabric made from100% PET fibers of varying cross sections

From the above fundamentals, fine denier fibres have better sound absorbing properties than
coarse denier fibers. Super fine fibres have good sound absorption characteristics [8]. Absorption
of the energy of plane acoustic waves is different in the low and high frequency bands [38].


9
3.2 Fiber surface area:
One of the important factor which influence the sound absorption characteristics of the materials
is fibre surface area. More finer fibres means more surface area.
The relation between the total surface area S (cm2) of fibers constituting a fiber assembly of
porosity P
e
(%) and T (cm) is shown as follows:

S = a T
b
x 10
4

where a and b are constants and T is the thickness. A fiber assembly which meets this equation
has the maximum sound absorption coefficient at a certain frequency, if it has no back air space
or at an optional frequency if it has a back air space suited to the frequency [39]. If samples are
uniform in thickness, the total surface area of fiber at P
e
is constant, irrespective of the fineness
of fibers. This means that the relation between the fineness of fibers d (denier) and P
e
(%) for a
sample of uniform thickness is shown thus,

(100-P
e
) d
-1/2
= constant

P
e
for a sample made up of fibers of differing in denier is easily calculable by using this
equation. In a porosity range higher than P
e
, the maximum absorption coefficients of samples
composed of fibers differing in fineness but arranged to be the same in total surface area do not
agree completely [39].
Kyoichi et al. and Narang et al. [40, 41] indicated a direct correlation between sound absorption
and fiber surface area. Their study explained the fact that friction between fibers and air
increases with fiber surface area resulting in a higher sound absorption. Kyoichi et al. observed
that the sound absorption coefficient rises as the fibre surface area of the sound-absorbing
materials increases (fig. 3.3(a) & fig. 3.3(b)).





10

(a) (b)
Figure 3.3 (a) Sound absorption comparison for various fibres with frequency.
(b) surface area for various fibre-based sound-absorbing materials.

This can be explained by the fact that friction between the fibres and the air increases with a
larger fibre surface area, resulting in a higher sound absorption coefficient. Moreover it has been
said that, in the frequency range 1125 Hz 5000 Hz, fibers with serrated cross sections absorb
more sound compared to ones with round cross sectional area.
The fabric weight would then become less important than fabric thickness as fabric lightness can
be achieved by using a micro-fiber fabric, which has less weight due to its large surface area.
Therefore these possibilities of micro-fiber fabrics were tested for their application as sound-
absorbing materials. As a result, micro-fiber fabrics (except those with a mesh structure)
absorbed all sound frequencies better than a conventional fabric, and also better than the data
from other studies of absorbing materials. Micro-fiber fabrics absorb sound better because their
fibers have a higher surface area than those of regular fiber fabrics, resulting in higher flow
resistance [36].

3.3 Thickness:
Many literature have cited that sound absorption in porous materials have concluded that low
frequency sound absorption has direct relationship with thickness. The effectiveness of
absorption is directly related to the thickness of the material [32]; absorbers are most effective
when their thickness is between one-fourth and one-half the wavelength of the sound, with the
maximum performance where the thickness is one-fourth the wavelength [5]. Masataka
Hakamada et al. [42] shows that the sound absorption coefficient increased with increasing
11
specimen thickness at all frequencies (fig. 3.4 a). Not only that, the air gap, from specimen to the
rigid wall, has an importance to sound absorption too (fig. 3.3 b).


Fig. 3.4 (a) Effect of specimen thickness on sound absorption coefficient
(b) Effect of air-gap interval on the sound absorption coefficient [42]

A study by M.A. Ibrahim et al [43] showed the increase of sound absorption only at low
frequencies, as the material gets thicker. However, at higher frequencies thickness has
insignificant effect on sound absorption. When there is air space inside and behind the material,
the maximum value of the sound absorption coefficient moves from the high to the low
frequency range [42]. Another work has done by Kazuhiko Kosuge et al [44]. They also shows
for the lower frequency of the normal incidence wave, sound absorption increased by increasing
the thickness of the nonwoven (fig. 3.5).


Figure 3.5 Nonwoven thicknesses vs. normal incidence sound absorption
12
3.4 Bulk density:
Numerous works has been done to study the influence of the bulk density on the sound absorbing
properties of fibrous materials. K.O.Ballagh [8] has shown the effect on NAC is quite significant
for bulk density, thickness and flow resistivity in the frequency range of 500 - 2000Hz for 25
mm thickness and 250-1000Hz for 100 mm thickness. He explains that within the frequency
range of 500-2000Hz, the NAC is proportionally higher with the higher bulk density, thickness
and higher flow resistivity (fig. 3.6).


Figure 3.6 absorption coefficients showing the effect of density and flow resistivity.

There is a close relationship between flow resistivity [45, 5], density and fibre diameter. It can be
seen that the flow resistivity generally increases with increasing density [46]. Additional tests
have done on a single sample with a particular fibre diameter which was compressed to various
degrees, and the flow resistivity can be measured over a range of different.
K.O.Ballagh [8] explained that the flow resistivity is inversely proportional to the fibre diameter
and proportional to the density of the sample.
Energy loss increases as the surface friction increases, thus the sound absorption coefficient
increases.

3.5 Porosity:
Porosity is relatively important factors which prominently influenced to the Sound absorption
characteristics of porous materials [47]. The fig. 3.6 shows the influence of porosity along with
the bulk density on sound absorption coefficient of the porous materials.
13


Figure 3.6 Sound absorption characteristics of 2.5 cm thick sample
D
a
: Observed apparent density and P: Porosity

Already we have seen that many factors have the influence to sound absorption properties of the
porous materials. One of the important factor is porosity. To allow sound dissipation by friction,
the sound wave has to enter the porous material. This means, there should be enough pores on
the surface of the material for the sound to pass through and get dampened. The porosity of a
porous material is defined as the ratio of the volume of the air in the material to its total volume.
Definition of the porosity (c) [48, 49], we can write as,
c = 1- 4 =
t
a
v
v

where, 4 is the fibre volume fraction and v
a
and v
t
are the volume of the air (void volume) and
total volume of the sample respectively.
A porous material such as nonwovens with an open face carries most of the sound energy in the
form of the airborne wave. The exception is a porous material that has a structural stiffness less
than that of air. In this case, the material behaves as a fluid. In either case, the sound energy can
be thought of as being carried by the airborne wave. There are several factors that have a strong
influence on the airborne wave, but usually the most important influence is due to the flow
resistivity of the material. Most of the materials tested in this study were porous materials with
an open or scrim covered face, so the airborne wave is dominant [5].
Shoshani et al. [50] considered that, four functional forms of the porosity: linear, quadratic,
exponential and logarithmic. He assume that, layer can be approximately thought of as a
combination of several thin layers; each of which having a constant porosity. Therefore, it seems
14
to us that our generalized theory can be used as a tool for assessing the noise absorption capacity
of multilayer nonwoven structure.
According to the functional form of porosity, they reveals numerical configuration as,
a) Linear:
b) Quadratic:

c) Exponential:
and
c) Logarithmic:

Where, each of these forms depends on two parameters P
1
and P
2
satisfying 0< P
1
, P
2
<1;
represents the thickness of the web. These functions can be increasing or decreasing with
respect to x, depending on the choice of the parameters P
1
and P
2
(P
1
, P
2
the best fit parameters.)

3.6 Airflow resistivity:
Airflow resistivity is most important factor to characterize the sound absorption properties of the
fibrous materials. A number of researchers have shown the influence of airflow resistivity to
sound absorption behaviour of textile materials.
The air flow resustance R (pascal.s/m
3
) is defined as,
R = Ap/q
v

Where Ap is the air pressure difference across a layer of porous material; with respect to the
atmosphere (Pa), and q
v
is the volumetric airflow rate passing through the layer (m
/s
).
The volumetric airflow rate is
q
v
= u.S.
15
where u is the linear airflow velocity (m/s) and S is the cross sectional area of the porous
materials perpendicular to the direction of air flow (m
2
).
Now specific airflow resistance R
s
(Pa.s/m) applies to a specific thickness of a porous material;
hence it is an appropriate specification parameter for both homogeneous and non homogeneous
materials as well as materials with a porous surface coating or perforated surface layer.
R
s
= R.S
The airflow resistivity, r (pa.s/m
2
) is the specific airflow resistance per unit thickness, and is only
appropriate as a specification parameter for homogeneous materials.
R = S. Ap/dq
v

= R.S/d
= R
s
/d
Where d is the thickness of the layer of porous materials in the direction of airflow (m) [14]

3.6.1 Flow Resistance Measurement Unit:
The schematic diagram of the set-up for flow resistance measurements of textile materials is
shown in Figure 3.7. The set-up comprises two circular columns 50 mm in diameter and
approximately 50 cm long (made of acrylic material), between which the textile sample is fixed
during experiments. A thin rubber gasket is placed on the textile to avoid leakage. A 50 L plastic
tank is used as water reservoir, and an Iwaki-MD6 pump (maximum output 38 Uminute) is used
to circulate water in the flow loop. The flow through the column (and hence through the textile)
is measured with help of two GF rotameters (one with a range of 5-50 L/hour and the other 30-
300 L/hour). The pressure difference across the textile sample is measured with a Honeywell
STD-120 differential pressure indicator [7]. In the fig. 3.7, a schematic diagram has been shown
for measuring the airflow resistivity of the materials.
16

Figure 3.7 Schematic diagram of the experimental set-up for how resistance
measurements: (1) detachable columns to hold the textik. (2) textile sample. (3) pressure
transmitter with air locks. (4) rotameters, (5) pump. (6) water reservoir. (7) 3-waiy valve for
collecting samples for the analysis.

One of the most important factor that influence the sound absorbing characteristics of a
nonwoven material is the specific flow resistance per unit thickness of the material. The
characteristic impedance and propagation constant, which describes the acoustical properties of
porous materials, are governed to a great extent by flow resistance of the material [51, 5]
Now, acoustical properties are a function of both the density and the fibre diameter of the
sample. A more useful parameter for comparing different samples is the flow resistivity, since
different samples with the same flow resistivity (but different combinations of density and fibre
diameter) have similar acoustical properties. At higher values of airflow resistivity, there is some
improvement in low-frequency performance but at the expense of a reduction in high-frequency
absorption.
K. O. Ballagh [8] has shown that, there is a close relationship between flow resistivity, density
and fibre diameter. The flow resistivity has been plotted in fig. 3.8 acording to the density
(kg/m
3
) Vs. Flow resistivity (Rayls/m) , for the range of samples measured. It can be seen that
the flow resistivity generally increases with increasing density, although there is a reasonable
degree of scatter.
17

Figure 3.8 Relationship between flow resistivity and density for all samples.

Fibers interlocking in nonwovens are the frictional elements that provide resistance to
acoustic wave motion. In general, when sound enters these materials, its amplitude is decreased
by friction as the waves try to move through the tortuous passages. Thus the acoustic energy is
converted into heat [52]. This friction quantity which can be expressed by resistance of the
material to airflow is called airflow resistance and is defined in equation as:

where: R1 = Specific flow resistance, mks Rayls/m
u = Particle velocity through sample, m/sec
A p = Sound pressure differential across the thickness of the sample
measured in direction of particle velocity, newtons/m2
A T = Incremental thickness

3.7 Tortuosity:
The most simple mathematic method to estimate tortuosity is arc-chord ratio: ratio of the length
of the curve (L) to the distance between the ends of it (C)[ 53]:
T = L/C
Arc-chord ratio equals 1 for a straight line and is infinite for a circle.
18
Patasius, M. et al. [54] has given a generalized formula to measure tortuosity by an integral of
square of derivative of curvature, divided by the length of a curve

Where k is the derivatives of the curvature with respect to time.
Tortuosity is a measure of the elongation of the passage way through the pores, compared to the
thickness of the sample. According to Knapen et al. [55], tortuosity describes the influence of the
internal structure of a material on its acoustical properties. Con Wassilieff [56] describes
tortuosity as a measure of how far the pores deviate from the normal, or meander about the
material. It was stated that, K. V. Horoshenkov et al. [57] that, tortuosity mainly affects the
location of the quarter-wavelength peaks, whereas porosity and flow resistivity affect the height
and width of the peaks. It has also been said by the value of tortuosity determines the high
frequency behavior of sound absorbing porous materials.
As the porous layer has an initial thickness d
0
[58], the porous layer undergoes a compression,
the thickness decreases to d
n
, which is the so-called final thickness. The compression rate n is
defined as the ratio of initial thickness to the final thickness after compression. Wave numbers
are related to the parameters, tortuosity, characteristic length, flow resistivity, porosity and
density. Compressing the material affects these parameters. So compression is an another
important factor. The new porosity, the flow resistivity, the tortuosity, the viscous characteristic
length and the thermal characteristic length caused by the compression, Bernard Castagnede et al
has shown the expression of tortusity as,

Where n
n
d
d
0
= (fig. 3.9)

19

Figure 3.9 The illustration of compression rate.

Along with tortuosity, the inner structure of porous materials has been described by the term
structure factorhas given the approximate relation between porosity (o) and structure factor (K)
for homogenous materials made of fibers or granules with interconnecting pores. In the table
[55] shows how the tortuosity varied with some factors.


Table 3.1 Porosity, flow resistivity and tortuosity

3.8 Surface impedance:
The effect that a surface has on an acoustic wave can be characterized by four interrelated
acoustic quantities [59]: the impedance (z), admittance ( =1/z), the pressure reflection factor (R)
and the absorption coefficient (u). The first three (impedance, admittance and pressure reflection
factor) give information about both the magnitude and phase change on reflection. The
20
absorption coefficient does not contain phase data, but only gives information about the energy
change on reflection.
The pressure reflection coefficient, R, gives the ratio of the reflected and incident pressure, i.e:

The pressure reflection coefficient therefore includes both magnitude and phase information
about the reflection of sound. (There is also an intensity reflection coefficient, but this is not used
here). The relationships between pressure reflection coefficient and impedance for oblique
incidence is:

where, u is the angle of incidence and p is the density of the medium and c the speed of sound in
the acoustic medium. The ratio of pressure to velocity gives the characteristic specific acoustic
impedance of the medium, z
c
, and z
1
is the surface impedance.



As the time response of the surface impedance is a sum of exponential functions, a recursive
implementation is possible. The infinite sum of exponentials in the time domain has to be
reduced to a finite number of terms. As a consequence, this approximation of the impedance
leads to a frequency-dependent error [60].
The higher the acoustic resistivity of a material, the higher is its dissipation, for a given layer of
thickness. At the same time the surface impedance of the layer also increases with resistivity,
resulting in a greater amount of reflections on the surface layer, giving a lower absorptivity
capability. Moreover the whole process is frequency dependent, so that for lower frequency
bands the necessary layer thickness increases as resistivity decreases [5].
The surface impedance seen [61] by a plane wave normally incident on a conductor is the same
21
as that seen by a wave traveling parallel to the conductor, as in a transmission line. For simplicity
in the present discussion, we consider experiments in which a plane wave is normally incident on
the surface of the conductor or model under test (fig. 3.10).


Figure 3.10 Model diagram for surface impedance

The surface impedance is often split into the real term (resistance) and imaginary term
(reactance). In general, the real term of surface impedance is associated with energy losses, and
the imaginary term with phase changes. So a simple inspection of the surface acoustic impedance
can give more insight into the absorbing properties of a material than the absorption coefficient.
Remembering that the absorption coefficient, u, is a ratio of the absorbed and incident energy
enables the following expression to be derived:

The normal acoustic surface impedance, Z
a,n
, is defined as the ratio of the complex sound
pressure at a surface, to the component of the complex sound particle velocity that is normal to
this surface [14],

Although we are mainly interested in plates (representing walls or floors) that form the room
boundaries, the above definition applies to any surface, including sheets of porous materials
such as mineral wool or foam.
The specific acoustic impedance, Z
a,s
, is defined using the characteristic impedance of air,
22

According to Frank Fahy, [62] normalized surface impedance (Z) can be calculated using the
equation,

where: p= Air density (kg/m3)
c = Sound velocity in air (ms
-1
)
K. A. Jayaraman [30] has found out that the surface impedance increasing with increasing the
sample thickness. NAC is increasing with increasing the surface impedance upto 3500Hz.

4. The sound absorption spectrum:
Zhang Xinan [63] and Y.Shaoshani [64] has given a simple equation for calculating the Sound
Absorption Coefficient (SAC) for the fibrous materials.
He explain that, it is known that there are maximum SAC at D = n/ 4 (n=1, 3, 5.) and
minimum SAC at D= n/2. This is also the characters of stand wave in the tube. So, it is
reasonable to assume that the SAC of material in the stand wave tube is positive proportion with
the wave amplitude. That means high wave amplitude will cause high SAC and lower wave
amplitude will cause lower SAC. Let y denote the wave amplitude, then

Where, Y is the maximum amplitude, e is the angular frequency, let o = 0 and A = KY
then,
(u is the SAC)
For e = 2af, =c/, (, c, denote frequency, sound speed and wave length respectively)
Then,

Let the back wall of the tube be the zero point, so,

23
This is the formula of sound absorption spectrum for fibrous material.
Zhang Xinan [63] also explained that the increase of the wave amplitude of sound source will
not cause the change of SAC tested. The reason is that the higher wave amplitude of sound
source will cause the increase of both the maximum pressure P
1
and the minimum pressure P
2
in
stand wave tube, but the value of SAC is determined by P
2
/P
1
.

5. Mechanism of Sound Absorption in Fibrous Materials:
Many scientists have explained the dissipation mechanism of sound absorption results from the
acoustic energy to heat [45, 65].
According to Randall F. Barron [13], the attenuation or dissipation of acoustic energy as a sound
wave moves through a medium may be attributed to three basic mechanisms:

(a) Viscous effects (dissipation of acoustic energy due to fluid friction), which result in
thermodynamically irreversible propagation of sound,

(b) Heat conduction effects (heat transfer between high- and low temperature regions in the
wave), which result in non-adiabatic propagation of the sound and

(c) Internal molecular energy interchanges (molecular energy relaxation effects), which result in
a time lag between changes in translational kinetic energy and the energy associated with
rotation and vibration of the molecules.

The attenuation due to the sum of the first two mechanisms, viscous and heat conduction is
called the classical attenuation.
Massimo Garai & Francesco Pompoli [46] have explained, the microstructural models provide a
deep physical insight of sound energy dissipation mechanisms into the porous materials. Sound
absorption mechanism is depends on some parameters, such as, number, size of pores,
morphology of the pores and fibre thermal conductivity [35].
With internal losses the sound energy is converted into heat [14]. Hence high internal loss factors
are beneficial for the noise control engineer who is trying to reduce sound levels. Internal losses
occur when the sound wave hits absorptive surfaces or objects (e.g. sound absorbent ceiling tiles,
carpet, porous materials) and as the wave travels through the air due to air absorption. The
24
former is usually more important than the latter because air absorption only becomes significant
at high frequencies and in large rooms.
Temperature variations associated with the passage of an acoustic disturbance through a gas next
to a solid boundary, which is characterized by a very much greater thermal capacity, will
likewise give rise to a thermal wave propagating into the boundary; but again, as with the shear
wave, the thermal wave will be confined to a very thin thermal boundary layer of the same order
of size as the viscous boundary layer. Such viscous and thermal effects, generally referred to as
the acoustic boundary layer, are usually negligible for energy transport, and are generally
neglected, except in the analysis of sound propagation in tubes and porous media, where they
provide the energy dissipation mechanisms [66].

According to Randall F. Barron, [13] the mechanism for absorption of acoustic energy for the
porous materials is the fluid frictional energy dissipation between the air and the solid fibers. At
high frequencies, the energy dissipation is larger because the particle velocity is larger than at
low frequencies. The expansion and contraction of the air within the irregular spaces of the
material also result in momentum losses for the air.


Figure 4.1 Surface absorption coefficient u for a porous felt-like material.

The results are illustrated in Fig. 4.1 that the absorption coefficients are larger for the thicker
material, which has more surface area for energy dissipation.
According to Malcolm J. Crocker et al. [67], have described the mechanism of sound absorption
happen by three ways,
25
1) A change in the flow direction of sound waves, together with expansion and contraction
phenomenon of flow through irregular pores, results in a loss of momentum
2) Air molecules oscillate in the interstices of the porous material with the frequency of the
exciting sound wave, results into frictional losses and
3) Air molecules in the pores undergo periodic compression and relaxation which results in
change of temperature. They have shown,


(a) (b)
Fig. 4.2 a) Sound propagation through porous sample and b) Viscous losses in air channels and
mechanical friction due to fiber rubbing

The mechanism of sound dissipation as: when sound enters porous materials, owing to sound
pressure, air molecules oscillate in the interstices of the porous material with the frequency of the
exciting sound wave. This oscillation results in frictional losses. A change in the flow direction
of sound waves, together with expansion and contraction phenomenon of flow through irregular
pores, results in a loss of momentum. Owing to exciting of sound, air molecules in the pores
undergo periodic compression and relaxation. This results in change of temperature. Because of
long time, large surface to volume ratios and high heat conductivity of fibers, heat exchange
takes place isothermally at low frequencies. At the same time in the high frequency region
compression takes place adiabatically. In the frequency region between these isothermal and
adiabatic compression, the heat exchange results in loss of sound energy. This loss is high in
fibrous materials if the sound propagates parallel to the plane of fibers and may account up to
40% sound attenuation [30].
26
D. A. Bies et al. [66] has also explained that, any propagating sound wave has both potential and
kinetic energy associated with it. The total energy (kinetic + potential) present in a unit volume
of fluid is referred to as the energy density. Energy density is of interest because it is used as the
quantity that is minimized in active noise cancellation systems for reducing noise in enclosed
spaces. The kinetic energy per unit volume is given by the standard expression for the kinetic
energy of a moving mass divided by the volume occupied by the mass.
K. A. Jayaraman [30] has mentioned in his MS thesis that, Fine fibre has high affinity to absorb
sound energy. This is because finer linear density allows more fibers per volume, more contact
area and more tortuous channels allowing more absorption. Moreover fine fibers move relatively
more easily than coarser fibers which causes finer fibers to convert more acoustic energy into
heat easily than coarser fibers.

6. Measurement of sound absorption coefficient:
Many scientists have characterized the sound absorption property of the textile materials using
different techniques. Generally, textile materials can be characterized by measuring some
properties as, sound absorption coefficient (u), reflection coefficient (R), or surface impedance
(Z).
Massimo Garai [68] has mentioned the Measurement techniques used to characterize the sound
absorptive properties of a material are:

Impedance Tube Methods,
Steady State Methods and
Reverberant Field Methods

Yakir Z. Shoshani [3] has used the impedance tube technique to measure the noise absorption
coefficient of the textile materials.
The set-up (manufactured by Brel and Kjaer Company of Denmark) [76] consists of a
cylindrical steel tube. The sample is fastened to the tubes left wall, and a loudspeaker that can
emit sound waves of well defined frequencies is attached to its right wall. The nodes and
antinodes of the standing waves formed by the interference between the waves emitted by the
loudspeaker and those reflected from the sample are detected by a small microphone that can
slide along the axis of the tube. The diameter of the tube D is smaller than the wavelength of the
27
emitted sound wave (typically D = 10 cm for f < 800 Hz and D = 3 cm for f > 800 Hz) so that
this wave can be thought of as a plane wave propagating along the axis of the tube. The normal
incidence NAC of the specimen, designated by u, is defined by



where Io and I, are-the energy flux of the incident and reflected waves, respectively. If P
min
. is
the minimal sound pressure level in the tube and P
max
is its maximal value, a is given by



where n is the ratio between maximum pressure leve to minimum (P
max
/P
min
)

The amplitude or loudness of a sound wave is expressed by its sound pressure level. Sounds
having the same wavelength (equal frequency) may have differing loudness because the sound
pressure of a sound wave may vary over a wide rangea change in magnitude of ten million to
onesound pressure is expressed using a logarithmic scale. This is the basis of the decibel scale,
which compresses the range of sound pressure into a scale from 0 to 150. The decibel (dB) is
not an actual measure of amplitude or loudness, but expresses the ratio between a given sound
pressure and a reference sound pressure. This relationship is expressed by the following
equation:

(L
p
) = 10 log (P/P
re
)
2

where, L
p
is the Sound Pressure Level, P is the Sound Pressure (Pa), P
re
is the sound pressure at
the threshold of hearing (0.00002 Pa) [69].






28
6.1. Methods for acoustic measurements:

Impedance tube method uses plane sound waves that strike the material straight and so the
sound absorption coefficient is called normal incidence sound absorption coefficient, NAC (fig.
6.1) [70].


Figure 6.1 Impedance Tube for Sound Absorption

The impedance tube consists of a speaker, tube, two microphones and material sample holder. A
special sound called white noise is generated in the speaker. The white noise is composed of
sound contributions from all frequency bands in the audible range. The sound travels straight
down the tube and strikes the material. Some of the sound is absorbed and some is reflected
back. The two microphones measure the reflected sound. From the two microphone's signals, the
sound absorption can be calculated [70]. In an ITM (Impedance Tube Method) measurement (fig.
6.2), the acoustic waves are confined within the impedance tube, which is typically a few
centimeters in diameter, and the size of the materials sample need only be large enough to fill the
cross-section of the tube.[71].

29

Figure 6.2 Schematic Sketch of an Impedance Tube Set-Up [30]

Thus this method avoids the need to fabricate large test sample with lateral dimensions several
times the acoustical wavelength. The impedance tube method employs two techniques to
determine NAC, namely:
1. Movable microphone which is one-third octave frequencies technique (ASTM C 384) is
based on the standing wave ratio principle and uses an audio frequency spectrometer to measure
the absorption coefficients at various centre frequencies of the one-third octave bands.
2. Two-fixed microphone impedance tube or transfer function method (ASTM E 1050), which is
relatively recent development. In this technique, a broadband random signal is used as a sound
source. The normal incidence absorption coefficients and the impedance ratios of the test
materials can be measured much faster and easier compared with the first technique [72]. The
final method of measuring the sound absorption coefficient is known as,
Steady state method. This method is mostly used when the other will not work.
This particular method is described in ASTM E336-71. To measure the transmission coefficient
of the materials, a third microphone or even a second pair of microphone can be placed behind
the test sample in a second impedance tube.
Reverberant field method for measuring sound absorption is concerned with the performance
of a material exposed to a randomly incident sound wave, which technically occurs when the
material is in diffusive field [ 69]. However creation of a diffusive sound field requires a large
30
and costly reverberation room. A completely diffuse sound field can be achieved only rarely.
Moreover, an accurate value of complex impedance cannot be derived from the absorption
coefficient alone [73]. Since sound is allowed to strike the material from all directions, the
absorption coefficient determined is called random incidence sound absorption coefficient, RAC.
This method is clearly explained in ASTM C 423 72.

Two Microphone Impedance Tube Technique (Transfer Function Method)
The transfer function method (ASTM E 1050) covers the use of an impedance tube, with two
microphone locations and a digital frequency analysis system for the determination of normal
incidence sound absorption coefficients (NAC) and normal specific acoustic impedance ratios of
materials. This test method is similar to Test Method (ASTM C 384) in that it also uses an
impedance tube with a sound source connected to one end and the test sample mounted at the
other end. The measurement techniques for the two methods are fundamentally different,
however. First microphone tube method (standing wave method) is quite cumbersome since a
probing of the sound field has to be carried for each frequency.
The usable frequency range depends on the diameter of the tube and the spacing between the
microphone positions. An extended frequency range may be obtained by using tubes with
various diameters and microphones spacing. By this method acoustical parameters like
absorption coefficient, reflection coefficient and surface admittance for a small samples exposed
to plane waves can be determined [74]. In the fig. 6.2 (a) shows the wave propagation through
the sample and fig. 6.2(b) shows the measuring system.


(a) (b)
Fig: 6.2 (a) Sound wave propagation and (b) Measuring system configuration.

31

The major parameters to be measured are the corrected transfer function H broken down into the
real part H
r
and the imaginary part H
i
, the complex reflection coefficient R determined by the
real part R
r
and the imaginary part Ri, and the normal incidence sound absorption coefficient u
(taking values between 0 and 1). These parameters are described below [6]:


where:
H = measured transfer function;
c
H = microphone calibrated factor;
j = 1 , indicating an imaginary unit in the equation;
c = speed of sound (m/s);
p = density of air (kg/m3);
f = sound frequency (Hz);
k = 2af/c (m
1
); (wabe no.)
l = distance from the test specimen to the center of the nearest microphone (m);
s = center-to-center spacing between the two microphones (m);
r/pc = u/[2(1 R
r
) u], acoustic resistance ratio;
x/pc = 2R
i
[2(1 R
r
) u], acoustic reactance ratio;
z/pc = acoustic impedance ratio [6, 74].




32
7. Materials and methods and Experimental Results:
For getting an experimental experience we have taken three types of nonwoven fabrics which
made by polypropylene. In the Department of Textile Technology, IIT Delhi, we have Normal
Impedance Tube instrument. All the results, we have got experimentally by the above mentioned
instrument. The instrument has been designed followed by ASTM C 384-98 standard. The band
frequency has taken as one-third-octave band. The lower cut-off frequency has been kept at 250
Hz. The experiment obtained up to 2000 Hz.

Details parameters of the sample has been shown in the table 7a.

Sample ID Mass (gsm) Thickness (mm) Density (gm/cc) Porosity
NPP1 378 6.24 0.06 0.93
NPP2 756 12.48 0.06 0.93
NPP3 1134 18.72 0.06 0.93
TPP1 275 0.69 0.40 0.57
TPP2 550 1.38 0.40 0.57
TPP3 825 2.07 0.40 0.57
TLPP1 82.3 0.43 0.19 0.79
TLPP2 164.6 0.86 0.19 0.79
TLPP3 246.9 1.29 0.19 0.79

Table 7(a)

NPP ---- Needlepunch Polypropylene
TPP ---- Thermalbond Polypropylene
TLPP --- Thermalbond Low gsm Polypropylene (1, 2, 3 denotes the thickness increasing)
Noise absorption coefficient has been observed in one-third octave band frequency range for all
the samples.





33

Table 7.1 shows the values of NAC with respect to Frequency (Hz) of the samples NPP1, NPP2
and NPP3.
Fig. 7.1 shows the relation between NAC and Frequency (Hz) below.

NPP1 () NPP2 () NPP3 ()
0.63 0.65 0.69
0.69 0.71 0.73
0.72 0.74 0.75
0.75 0.77 0.79
0.8 0.84 0.86
0.83 0.88 0.9
0.85 0.9 0.93
0.87 0.91 0.94
0.82 0.9 0.92
0.8 0.87 0.9

0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
2
5
0
3
1
5
4
0
0
5
0
0
6
3
0
8
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
2
6
0
1
6
0
0
2
0
0
0
1/3 Octave band frequency (Hz)
N
A
C

(

) NPP1
NPP2
NPP3

Table 7.1 Figure 7.1

Table 7.2 shows the values of NAC with respect to Frequency (Hz) of the samples TPP1, TPP2
and TPP3.
Fig. 7.2 shows the relation between NAC and Frequency (Hz) of the sample below.

TPP1 () TPP2 () TPP3 ()
0.48 0.52 0.58
0.5 0.55 0.62
0.53 0.57 0.66
0.58 0.62 0.69
0.6 0.64 0.73
0.64 0.68 0.77
0.69 0.73 0.79
0.77 0.79 0.83
0.77 0.76 0.81
0.74 0.76 0.77

0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
2
5
0
3
1
5
4
0
0
5
0
0
6
3
0
8
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
2
6
0
1
6
0
0
2
0
0
0
1/3 Octave band frequency (Hz)
N
A
C

(

)
TPP1
TPP2
TPP3

Table 7.2 Figure 7.2
34
Table 7.3 shows the values of NAC with respect to Frequency (Hz) of the samples TLPP1,
TLPP2 and TLPP3.
Fig. 7.3 shows the relation between NAC and Frequency (Hz) of the samples below.

TLPP1 () TLPP2 () TLPP3 ()
0.46 0.49 0.54
0.5 0.53 0.58
0.55 0.56 0.63
0.58 0.6 0.66
0.6 0.63 0.68
0.66 0.68 0.72
0.69 0.7 0.75
0.73 0.75 0.79
0.76 0.77 0.79
0.72 0.74 0.77

0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
2
5
0
3
1
5
4
0
0
5
0
0
6
3
0
8
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
2
6
0
1
6
0
0
2
0
0
0
1/3 Octave band frequency (Hz)
N
A
C

(

)
TLPP1
TLPP2
TLPP3

Table 7.3 Figure 7.3

From the above all graphs, we can see that the values of u increasing with increasing the
thickness of the nonwoven samples.
The noise reduction coefficient has been shown in the table 7.4 and the fig.7.4 is showing the
tendency of NRC (%) with increasing thickness.
Sample NRC (%)
NPP1 77.6
NPP2 81.6
NPP3 84.1
TPP1 63
TPP2 66.2
TPP3 72.5
TLPP1 62.5
TLPP2 64.5
TLPP3 69.1

77.6
81.6
84.1
63
66.2
72.5
62.5
64.5
69.1
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
Min Mid Max
Thickness
N
R
C

(
%
) NPP
TPP
TLPP

Table 7.4 Figure 7.4


35
8. Aplication of sound absorptive materials:
Now a days, acoustical material plays a number of important roles in acoustic engineering such
as the control of room acoustics, industrial noise control, studio acoustics and automotive
acoustics. Sound absorptive materials are generally used to counteract the undesirable effects of
sound reflection by hard, rigid and interior surfaces and thus help to reduce the reverberant noise
levels. They are used as interior lining for apartments, automotives, aircrafts, and ducts,
enclosures for noise equipments and insulations for appliances. Automotive interior noise be
undesirable for both the passenger and driver; many author have studied that the textile structures
have the potential to reduce interior noise in automobiles [75]. Sound absorptive materials may
also be used to control the response of artistic performance spaces to steady and transient sound
sources, thereby affecting the character of the aural environment, the intelligibility of
unreinforced speech and the quality of unreinforced musical sound. Combining absorptive
materials with barriers produces composite products that can be used to lag pipe or provide
absorptive curtain assemblies [30]. All noise control problem starts with the spectra of the
emitting source. Therefore, sound absorbing materials are chosen in terms of material types and
dimension, and also based on the frequency of sound to be controlled [16, 62].

Some application area:
Buildings & Construction Industrial Plants
Acoustic Ceiling Panel Automotive industries
Enclosable Noise Sources Outdoor Noise Sources
Printing Presses Public Transport
Defense Industries Aeronautical Engineering
HVAC Applications Stamping Presses
Hospital application Electronic Industries
Marine Insulation Gallery & Auditoriums etc.


36
9. Conclusion:

A sound wave is an obvious parametric feature which helps us to hear something. Not only that,
sound wave is an important communicator for the daily life too. Some times the sound wave
makes us unhappy and irritated, because its a noisy world. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days
a week, we are exposed to sounds we do not want, need, or benefit from. There are few places on
the planet where in our daily lives we are free from unwanted sounds. We can get a pleasant
environment by controlling the noise hazards. For this purpose many people have studied how to
control the noise and make peaceful circumstances.

Lot of researchers have served the results on the sound absorption characteristics of fibrous as
well as other materials. Fibrous materials have good sound absorption characteristics. Sound
absorptive materials can be classified into three categories such as absorptive materials, Barrier
materials and damping material.
The performance of the sound absorptive materials depends on some important factors that are
fibre diameter, fiber surface area, thickness, bulk density, porosity, airflow resistivity, tortuosity
and surface impedance.
We have seen that the most important factor for sound absorption is the air flow resistivity of the
fibrous materials. Several times, researchers have found that the sound absorption coefficient (u)
increasing with increasing the airflow resistivity. Because of that, the airflow resistivity depends
on the materials porosity and bulk density. We know that, if the fibre volume fraction decreasing,
the porosity is increasing. So, porosity increasing that means the bulkiness of the materials is
increasing and airflow resistivity is decreasing. For a certain range of frequency, the sound
absorption coefficient is increasing with increasing the flow resistivity.
In this report, we have seen that the above noted factors have direct relation to the sound
absorption properties of the materials and out of that, some secondary factors also affect
indirectly. Some researchers have reported that the sound absorption coefficient is increasing
with increasing the thickness as well as bulk density and airflow resistivity.

The attenuation or dissipation of acoustic energy as a sound wave moves through a medium may
be attributed to three basic mechanisms that are, frictional losses, momentum losses and
temperature fluctuations.
37
A number of models have been established by several researchers to find out the sound
absorption characteristics of the fibrous materials. They have given some important equations
from which we can easily calculate the sound absorption coefficient of the tested materials.
Different techniques have been developed to measure the sound absorption properties of the
materials such as impedance tube methods, steady state methods and reverberant field methods
These three methods have been briefly discussed in the report.

From the experiment result and discussion, we can see that the noise absorption coefficient as
well as noise reduction coefficient is increasing with increasing thickness.

In the present society, we have seen that the sound absorptive materials have crucial demand.
Application of the sound absorbing materials to various fields is necessary. For the purpose of
the specific application of the materials, manufacturers consider the following criteria as for the
varieties of products which should be economical, durable, good aesthetic property, easy
processibility and obviously beneficial. Depending on those factors, huge applications of the
sound absorptive materials have been found in automobile industries, aeronautical industries,
building construction, hospital application, and so on.




















38
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