Abstract:
Natural fibers are becoming a valid alternative to traditional synthetic ones for sound
absorption treatments due to its good porosity and tortuosity. In particular, in recent years,
natural fibers have been considered valid raw materials for producing sound absorbing
panels at a reduced cost. With the increment of urbanization and corresponding population
growth the emission of sound increases significantly. This sound may arise from industrial
production noise, airplane flying, moving and honking vehicles, music from night clubs
and restaurant and neighbors. This study aims to investigate the influence of natural fibers
on the acoustic capability of agrostone composite wall. Following a literature review of
previous studies about the acoustic properties of some natural fibers, this paper reports
the acoustical characterization of natural fibers such as palm and bamboo, and compare
it with the existing one in agrostone composite wall which is glass fiber. The acoustic
capability measurement is made based on the theoretical and experimental analysis. The
theoretical analysis of the absorption coefficient and surface impedance is given by Bazely
Delany model. And the experimental work is based on the technical standard E 1050-98.
The composite is manufactured by hand layup technique with fiber matrix ratio of
20%/80% by volume. The maximum value of absorption coefficient is obtained by the palm
fiber samples 0.9607 and 0.8456 for experimental and theoretical analysis respectively.
Whereas 0.8744 and 0.7923 for bamboo fiber. And 0.8597 and 0.7506 for glass fiber
samples. From the results obtained it can be generalized that the natural fibers had good
sound attenuation capability than that of the synthetic ones.
Keywords: palm fiber, bamboo fiber, glass fiber, Delany-Bazely model, absorption
coefficient