A pilot study on improving the absorptivity of a thick microperforated panel absorber

Microperforated panel (MPP) absorbers are promising as a basis for the next-generation of sound absorbing materials. MPPs are typically made of a thin metal or plastic panel. However, thin limp panels are generally not suitable as an interior finish of room walls because they do not have sufficient strength, which prevents practical application of MPPs as an interior finish of room walls. In order to overcome the lack of appropriate strength required for room walls, it is possible to make an MPP out of a thick panel. However, thick MPPs are usually not efficient because the resistance and/or reactance become too high. In this study, trial production of thick MPPs and measurement of their normal absorption coefficients were carried out. Results show that efficient absorption can be given with a thick MPP by using a tapered perforation.     

Microperforated insertion units: An alternative strategy to design microperforated panels

Microperforated panels (MPPs) coupled to a rigid wall have been proposed recently as an alternative to porous absorbers in situations having concerns with bacterial contamination and small particles discharge, like food, pharmaceutical and microelectronic industries. There exists also an increasing interest for MPP absorbers in the transportation industry and civil engineering. In general, an optimally designed MPP with good broadband absorption requires many submillimetric holes distributed over a panel of also submillimetric thickness. Such thin plates or foils become so fragile that they need to be protected from mechanical damage. In this paper, an alternative strategy is investigated which allows the design of MPPs with panels of millimetric thickness while maintaining their acoustic performance. These absorbers, named microperforated insertion units (MIUs), avoid the structural problems of the classical MPPs. An assessment of the sound absorption properties of these structures is presented. Comparisons between calculations and measurements are also made under two experimental conditions: plane waves at normal incidence (impedance tube) and free field (anechoic room).     

Sound radiation from a double-leaf elastic plate with a point force excitation: effect of an interior panel on the structure-borne sound radiation

The sound radiation from a double-leaf elastic plate subjected to a point force excitation is investigated theoretically, to gain a fundamental insight into the sound radiation from an interior panel of a double-leaf structure in buildings. The effects of the interior panel on the sound radiation, which show a negative effect at low frequencies due to the mass-air-mass resonance, are discussed in detail. The theory is validated experimentally. As a measure of the efficiency of the interior leaf in reducing noise radiation, the radiation reduction is defined in this study, and it is found useful for predicting the sound radiation due to the structure-borne sound in building elements. Parametric studies through theoretical results are made to clarify the effects of the parameters of the sound radiation system, and to gain a fundamental insight into the control of structure-borne noise radiation. It is shown that it is difficult to reduce the radiated sound power by an interior panel alone, even if its mass is increased.     

SOUND TRANSMISSION THROUGH ELASTOMERIC BULB SEALS

The sound barrier performance of elastomeric vehicle weather seals was investigated. Experiments were performed on a single bulb seal specimen using a reverberation room method. The seal wall velocity was measured using a laser Doppler vibrometer. The sound pressure near the velocity measurement location was measured simultaneously, which allowed the sound intensity on both sides of the seal and the sound transmission loss to be determined. The vibration response and the sound transmission loss of the bulb seal were then computed using finite element analysis. Acoustic-structure interactions were considered for a partially coherent spatially distributed pressure excitation. The experimental data obtained using the reverberation room method allowed the validation of the numerical models. The resonance frequency due to the mass-air-mass mode of vibration was accurately predicted. The model was then used to numerically investigate the influence of various design parameters. It was found that the elastic modulus significantly affects the bulb seal resonance frequency, and that the loss factor of the material has major effects on the sound transmission loss around resonance.     

穿纤维微穿孔板吸声系数的有限元仿真

为拓宽微穿孔板的吸声频带,该文用有限元算法建立了典型微穿孔板和穿入不同数量金属纤维的微穿孔板模型,研究了两种微穿孔板的吸声系数、声阻抗和微孔内法向质点速度的空间分布,并进行了试验验证。有限元仿真和试验数据表明:穿入金属纤维可以拓宽微穿孔板的吸声频带,吸声系数也随纤维根数的增加而下降;吸声系数仿真结果与试验结果趋势一致,仿真模型可以有效模拟穿入纤维前后微穿孔板的吸声特性;穿入金属纤维导致黏滞效应引起的低质点速度区域增大,声阻增加,引起吸声系数的降低,而声抗变化不大。研究发现,有限元仿真方法适用于结构相对复杂的微穿孔结构的声学建模,能直观地体现微孔复杂结构的影响,值得继续深入研究和工程应用。     

Experimental study for control of sound transmission through double glazed window using optimally tuned Helmholtz resonators

This paper presents an experimental investigation of passively control of sound transmission through a double glazed window by using arrangement of Helmholtz resonators (HRs), which are commonly used for narrow band control application. The laboratory experiments were performed placing the window between reverberation chamber and anechoic chamber. The window was subject to diffuse field, approximate normal wave and oblique wave acoustic excitations. Three sets of HRs were designed and installed in cavity of window. The sound control performances at far-field were measured. The control performances from varying the number of HRs, incident acoustic field, excitation sources (band-limited white noise and traffic noise examples) are presented and discussed in detail. It is shown that a considerable reduction of the transmitted sound pressure levels has been achieved around the mass–air–mass resonance frequency (50–120 Hz). The obtained reductions in the transmitted sound pressure illustrate the potentials of HRs for improving the sound insulation characteristics of double glazed window. The experimental results also indicate that only tuning the HRs to the mass–air–mass resonance frequency does not guarantee the best possible insulation of the sound transmission.     

水下隔声结构设计及评价方法

为使用混响法快捷地测量水下结构物的辐射噪声,需基于港口或海岸建造海上混响水池。针对内外都是水情况下的海上混响水池壁面隔声问题,设计了一种带梁空气夹层板水下隔声结构,通过仿真比较了不同参数的空气夹层板的隔声性能。为评价声波无规入射情况下水下大尺寸隔声结构隔声性能,提出了一种混响评价方法,通过隔声实验比较了混响法与脉冲法的不同。结果表明：带梁空气夹层板的水下隔声性能优异,声波无规入射情况下,面板厚度0.015 m、空气层厚度0.020 m的带梁空气夹层板在2～10 kHz频段插入损失大于20 dB;混响法可以有效评价大尺寸水下隔声结构的平均隔声性能,其反映的声波无规入射的平均隔声性能更接近于实际应用情况。     

A numerical study of double-leaf microperforated panel absorbers

Microperforated panel (MPP) absorbers are promising as a basis for the next-generation of sound absorbing materials. Typically, they are backed by an air-cavity in front of a rigid wall such as a ceiling or another interior surface of a room. Indeed, to be effective, MPP absorbers require the Helmholtz-type resonance formed with the backing cavity. Towards the creation of an efficient sound-absorbing structure with MPPs alone, the acoustical properties of a structure composed of two parallel MPPs with an air-cavity between them and no rigid backing is studied numerically. In this double-leaf MPP (DLMPP) structure, the rear leaf (i.e., the MPP remote from the incident sound) plays the role of the backing wall in the conventional setting and causes resonance-type absorption. Moreover, since a DLMPP can work efficiently as an absorber for sound incidence from both sides, it can be used efficiently as a space absorber, e.g., as a suspended absorber or as a sound absorbing panel. The sound absorption characteristics of the double-leaf MPP are analysed theoretically for a normally incident plane wave. The effects of various control parameters are discussed through a numerical parametric study. The absorption mechanisms and a possible design principle are discussed also. It is predicted that: (1) that a resonance absorption, similar to that in conventional type MPP absorbers, appears at medium-to-high frequencies and (2) that considerable “additional” absorption can be obtained at low frequencies. This low-frequency absorption is similar to that of a double-leaf permeable membrane and can be an advantage compared with the conventional type of MPP arrangement.     

Numerical analyses of the sound absorption of three-dimensional MPP space sound absorbers

Because microperforated panels (MPPs) can provide wide-band sound absorption without fibrous and porous materials, they are recognized as next-generation absorption materials. The fundamental absorbing mechanism is Helmholtz-resonance absorption due to the perforations and air-back cavity. Consequently, MPPs are usually placed in front of rigid-back walls. However, one of the authors has proposed MPP space sound absorbers without backing structures. Among these space absorbers, cylindrical MPP space absorbers and rectangular MPP space absorbers are advantageous due to their design flexibility and easy-to-use properties. Although their performances have been investigated experimentally, it is necessary to predict their absorption characteristics to develop improved shapes and efficient designs. Herein their absorption characteristics are numerically predicted using the two-dimensional boundary element method, and the applicability of a numerical method as a design tool to sufficiently predict the performance of MPP space absorbers is discussed.     

Prediction of the reverberation absorption coefficient of finite-size membrane absorbers

This paper presents a method to predict the reverberation absorption coefficient of a finite-size membrane absorbers composed of a single- or double-leaf membrane structure of various configurations. In order to predict the sound absorptivity of such an absorber, it is needed to consider that sound is incident from both sides of the absorber, which has not been accounted for the previous studies on membrane absorbers. The edge effect also needs to be considered if the absorber is rather small. The present method is established based on the theory for absorbers hanged in a reverberation chamber developed by Fujiwara and Makita [J Acoust Soc Jpn (E) 1980;1:37-45]. The same theory requires the fraction of energy dissipation in the absorber, which can be obtained by the difference of absorption and transmission coefficients, and the difference is calculated by the theories for various membrane structures presented in the authors’ previous work. An experimental study was also conducted to validate the present method: the predicted values showed good agreement with the measured ones. The numerical examples calculated by the present method are also presented to discuss the effect of the various control parameters, and it is suggested how to improve the sound absorption performance of double-leaf membrane absorbers with a permeable and an impermeable leaves.