Determining the Optimal Mesh for Making Acoustic Absorber from Arundo Donax Reed Stem

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of particle size (mesh) on the sound absorption coefficient of the absorbers made from Arundo Donax reed and to determine the optimal mesh for sound absorption.

After crushing the reed stems in 10, 30, 20, 16, and 40 mesh sizes, they were washed with 5% NaOH. To make the samples 3 and 10 cm in diameter, 10% PVA was used as a binder, and the impedance of the two-channel tube was used according to ISO 10534-2 standard to determine the absorption coefficient. 22 samples of meshes 16 and 20 were made to achieve the optimal mesh based on the optimized RSM method, and the SAA index was used to compare the samples and determine the optimal mesh.

The highest absorption peak was related to meshes 16 and 20 at the frequency of 2500 Hz, which is 0.94 and 0.98 ,respectively. The effect of increasing the thickness and density on the absorption coefficient is evident. The results have shown the effect of increasing the thickness and density on the absorption coefficient in mesh 20 in such a way that by increasing the density from 150 to 250 and the thickness from 10 to 30 mm, the absorption coefficient has increased from 35 to 63.5%. The optimal sample was mesh 20 with a thickness of 30 and a density of 250 kg/m3, which had the highest average absorption (SAA=0.57). The greater distance between the real and imaginary parts of the impedance shows the reactivity of the sample. In mesh 16 this distance is greater, as a result, mesh 16 has more reactivity and correspondingly less absorption.

The role of particle mesh as one of the important and influencing parameters on absorption coefficient has been investigated in this study.