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Outline
Definitions
Measuring Macro Properties
Absorption Coefficients
Flow Resistivity
Porosity
Tortuosity
Characteristic Thermal and Viscous Lengths
Absorption Coefficient,
The absorption coefficient is
defined as the ratio of absorbed
energy to incident energy
Ea
Ei
Some people define as the ratio of
all energy not reflected to incident
energy, i.e
Er Ea Et
1
Ei
Ei
Er
Ei
i r
Ea
Et
By Conservation
of Energy
Ei Er Ea Et
Measuring n and Zn
Probably the simplest methods for estimating normal
incidence absorption and surface impedance, n and Zn ,
are using plane wave impedance tubes
Two industry standards
ASTM C384/ISO 10534 Standing Wave Impedance Tube
ASTM E1050/ISO 10534-2 Two Microphone Impedance Tube
1 r 1 r
2
and
1 r
Zn
1 r
ASTM C384-04
Measure the ratio of peak amplitude to
min amplitudes of standing wave, the
standing wave ratio called SWR
Measure distance from sample to the
closest pressure min, L-x.
Use equations at right to get r and
This method is fairly foolproof, but it is
also only applicable for single frequencies
and is fairly time consuming
No microphone calibration is required
A B
SWR
A B
SWR 1
r
SWR 1
2k L x
ASTM E1050-98
Measure the transfer function, H(f) between
two mics, spaced s apart, and a distance l
from sample to get r using the equation that
is to the right and below
Frequency limited by mic spacing as well as
tube diameter recommendations are for
0.05 c/s < f < 0.45 c/s
If the microphone switching method not is
used, the microphones must be calibrated
for magnitude and phase and H must be
corrected before computation of r .
Absorptive media put between source and
sample to damp out the standing waves
H p1 / p 2
H e jks j 2 k (l s )
r jks
e
e H
sab
V
0.9210
d2 d1 1
CS
V is room volume
c is speed of sound
S is surface area of sample
1 is absorption coefficient of covered surface
d1 and d2 are sound decay rates (dB/s) with
and without the sample
sab is very useful measure if you want to predict the effect the
reverberation time of a room with that material.
sab is a poor measure of absorption if you want to do other
types of noise control (such as line an engine shroud)
There is no simple conversion from sab to rand or n
In-Situ measurement
For some absorbers (especially
hanging aborbers), it is important
or only practical to measure the
absorption in-situ.
The most popular methods are
free space variations of the
impedance tube and can be used
to measure angular dependent
absorption coefficients
This method has been formalized
in the European Standard ENV
1793 (part 5)
Bulk Properties
Bulk properties are those properties that describe the
material/sound wave interaction but are independent of
the material thickness and area (i.e. absorber size)
In anisotropic materials such as layered fiberglass, the bulk
properties can be a function of direction so keep that in mind
Z c Ke e and kc
Ke
Use of Zc and kc
We usually use Zc and kc directly
for designing absorbers. For
example, the normal surface
impedance of a layer of a porous
Z n
material of against a wall with Zd is
jZ tan(k d )
Z
c
c
Z n Z c d
Z jZ tan(k d )
c
Zc , kc
Z d
d
Microstructural Properties
The microstructural properties are the geometry details
that describe the interaction of the sound wave and
the material. These properties define the bulk
properties.
Knowledge of the microstructural properties is very
useful for designing aborber with specific bulk
properties.
Among the important microstructural properties are
Flow Resistivity
Porosity
Tortuosity
Characteristic Length
Flow Resistivity
Back open to
atmosphere
P
Meter
U
Source
Empirical Formula
Many empirical formulae have been developed
that relate to Zc and kc
The most famous is that of Delany and Bazley:
0.7
0.732
kc 1 0.0978 X
j 0.087 X
c
Here we see Zc and kc are complex. The imaginary part
of Zc represents stored energy and the imaginary part
of kc represents damping in the medium.
Porosity,
Porosity is the ratio of interconnected void volume to total
volume of a material and is surprisingly hard to measure.
Note: There is no standard variable name for porosity
You would think you can just measure the volume and mass of
an absorber sample but it is not that simple
It is hard to measure in open cell foams because it is hard to
determine which cells are really open and interconnected.
It is hard to measure accurately for fibrous absorbers because
measuring the exact volume of a compressible sample can be
hard
Porosities of 95-98% if fibrous absorbers are not uncommon
Measuring Porosity
One method is to fill the sample
pores with a liquid and
measure that volume. But that
can contaminate the sample
and preclude making other
parameter measurements.
Another popular method uses
thermodynamics.
Sample is placed in a chamber
which is compressed by V. The
internal pressure will increase by
P according to Boyles law.
P0 P
V0 Vt
V
P
Tortuosity, q
Tortuosity is a measure of the non-straightness
of the pore structure of the porous material.
The more complex the path, the more time a wave is in
contact with the absorbent.
Note: there is no standard variable name for tortuosity
Using Ultrasonics
Fellah, et. al. have shown that
by using ultrasonic time domain
reflectometry to measure the
complex surface reflection
coefficient at ultrasonic
frequencies.
At ultrasonic frequencies the
surface reflection coefficient
depends primarily on the
tortuosity and porosity of the
porous sample.
dV
V
' 2
dS S
sample
pore walls
2
v
2
fluid
dV
2
fluid
dS
Poro-Elastic
Poro-elastic systems are even tougher to model
as they additionally require knowledge of the
structural characteristics of the porous frame as
well as coupling coefficients between the frame
waves and the acoustic waves.
All those extra variables make my head start to
hurt so Ill end my talk now.
References
Cox, T. J. and P. D'antonio (2004). Acoustic Absorbers and Diffusers, Spon Press.
ASTM C384 (2003). Standard Test Method for Impedance and Absorption of Acoustical Materials by the Impedance
Tube Method.
ASTM C423-07a (2007). Standard Test Method for Sound Absorption and Sound Absorption Coefficients by the
Reverberation Room Method.
ASTM C522 (2003). Standard Test Method for Air Flow Restance of Acoustical Materials.
ASTM E 1050 (1998). Standard Test Method for Impedance and Absorption of Acoustical Materials Using a Tube,
Two Microphones and a Digital Frequency Analysis System.
European Standard EN 1793-5, Road traffic noise reducing devices test method for determining the acoustic
performance Part 5: Intrinsic characteristics In situ values of sound reflection and airborne sound insulation.
Champoux, Y., M. R. Stinson, et al. (1991). "Air-based system for the measurement of porosity." Journal of the
Acoustical Society of America 89(2): 910-916.
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Instruments 74(1366-1370).
Leclaire, P., M. J. Swift, et al. (1998). "Determining the specific area of porous acoustic materials from water
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Leclaire, P., L. Kelders, et al. (1996). "Determination of the viscous and thermal characteristic lengths of plastic
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Muehleisen, R. T. and C. W. Beamer IV (2002). "Comparison of errors in the three- and four-microphone methods
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112-117.
Muehleisen, R. T., C. W. Beamer IV, et al. (2005). "Measurements and empirical model of the acoustic properties of
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