Applied Acoustics 126 (2017) 58–67

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Applied Acoustics
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / a p a c o u s t

Acoustic absorption of fibro-granular composite with cylindrical grains

⇑
Hasina Mamtaz a, Mohammad Hosseini Fouladi a, , Mohd Zaki Nuawi b, Satesh Narayana Namasivayam a,
Masomeh Ghassem c, Mushtak Al-Atabi d
a
School of Engineering, Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya, Selangor 47500, Malaysia
b
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
c
Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
d
Heriot-Watt University, 62200 Putrajaya, Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya, Malaysia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: This paper reports the influence of cylindrical granular materials on the acoustic absorption performance
Received 25 December 2016
of a natural fiber composite. The acoustic absorption behavior of an innovative fibro-granular composite
Received in revised form 10 May 2017
composed of natural fibers combined with granular materials was investigated. The fibrous part of this
Accepted 11 May 2017
new composite is fabricated using coconut coir fiber and the granular part by cylindrical rice husk grain.
This study was motivated by a desire to improve the acoustical performance of materials made from
nat- ural (coir) fibers. The amount of binder additive added during composite preparation was
Keywords: Natural
fiber Natural grain
considered by reconstructing the equation using fiber diameter as a new parameter. The acoustic
Acoustic absorption properties of the novel composite were investigated based on the well-known Johnson-Champoux-Allard
Fibro-granular composite model by varying dif- ferent physical parameters. The experimental analysis was performed in
Cylindrical grain impedance tube to validate the analytical outcome. The developed analytical model employing
Johnson-Champoux-Allard model was found to give predictions in good agreement with absorption
coefficient data for the composite material samples with four different thicknesses. The effect of varying
the different factors, such as sample thick- ness, fiber–grain size and fiber-grain ratio, on the acoustic
absorption performance and the effect of the binder additive were also investigated. Results confirmed
the potential of the new material as a promis- ing acoustic absorber in the low-frequency region (less
than 1 kHz).
2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Traditional acoustic materials, which have provided acceptable
absorption rates for nearly all frequency bands, cannot satisfy all
issues in environmental pollution and waste management. Acous-
tic materials from natural waste materials have received attention
to address the dominant use of expensive and non-biodegradable
materials. The natural substance has a high potential for sound
absorption because of its light weight, natural abundance, cost
effi- ciency, biodegradability, and eco-friendliness. Thus, natural
and recycled acoustic materials are valid alternatives to
conventional synthetic materials [1].
Recycled and natural granular materials are highly sustainable,
non-combustible, and moisture-resistant acoustic absorption
materials. Most granular absorbents contain air-filled pores, where
sound absorption takes place due to viscous boundary layer effect.
The viscous loss occurs in the boundary layer of air adjacent to
⇑ composite consisting of cork and canes (bark and wood) as poten-
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mfoolady@gmail.com (M. Hosseini Fouladi).
pore walls by means of friction between the air molecules and
the pore walls. This phenomenon causes the sound energy to be
dissipated as heat [2].
Coir fiber is an important natural waste material because of its
outstanding potential to replace conventional fibers, such as glass
fibers or rock wool, for noise absorption. The fibrous structure of
an individual fiber cell is hollow, and this hollow cavity decreases
the bulk density and makes the coir fiber light and delicate to
serve as a reliable acoustic and thermal insulator [3].
Rice husk is a great resource as a natural waste material, which
comes from a commonly cultivated crop paddy and is abundant
worldwide. It is highly resistant to moisture, noncombustible,
and presents antifungal quality. Rice husk waste, together with
polyurethane binder, has been investigated as a potential low-
frequency acoustic absorber [4].
Several researchers have successfully developed sound absor-
bers by combining fiber and plastic or rubber-based granular mate-
rials [5,6]. Berardi and Innace [7] reported the effectiveness of a
tial acoustic absorbers in terms of the Delany-Bazley model. Mean-

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2017.05.012
0003-682X/ 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
H. Mamtaz et al. / Applied Acoustics 126 (2017) 58–67 59
60 H. Mamtaz et of
while, Mahzan et al. [8] investigated the effectiveness al. /the
Applied
coirAcoustics 126 (2017) 58–67
where the numerator denotes the velocity of a fluid over the pore
fiber-recycled rubber composite as a potential acoustic absorber. surface area A, and the denominator denotes the velocity inside
In their study, the composite with optimum composition of 40% the pore volume V.
coir fiber and 60% recycled rubber granulates was identified as a Moreover, Johnson et al. [14] described the relation between
promising sound absorption material. the viscous characteristic length and flow resistivity (rÞ as follows:
Koizumi et al. [9] reported that high tortuosity, high surface sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!
area, high flow resistivity, and low porosity at optimal values are 1 8ga
K¼ ð2Þ
the key factors for effective sound absorption performance of any c 1
material. ru
Despite their great availability and biodegradability, fresh natu- where a1 is the tortuosity, u is the porosity, and c is a constant,
ral fibers cannot be extensively applied industrially because of which is close to one.
their moisture content, thick diameter, and low antifungal quality. Johnson et al. [13] proposed the following expression of the
In addition, industrially treated natural fiber with lower moisture effective density qðxÞ of rigid-framed porous materials:
content compared with fresh natural fiber lead to lower acoustic " sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi#
4 a2 gq
absorption performance [10]. The current study reports, that this qðxÞ ¼ a1qo 1 þ ru 1þx 1 2 o : ð3Þ
acoustic attribute can be improved by incorporating granular jxqo a1 r2 K x 2
materials in fibers to modify moisture content.
The authors have previously highlighted the limitations of nat- where K is the viscous characteristic length.
ural fibers in achieving the desired acoustic absorption perfor- As long as the material is air-filled, then thermal exchange
mance at the desired frequency range, which is below 1 kHz [11]. between pore-borne sound wave compressions and rarefactions
Hence, the current study named and investigated the acoustic per- and the pore walls is significant as well. This is why, the
formance of a new composite which is fibro-granular composite. Johnson-Champoux-Allard model includes a thermal characteristic
Usually, it consists of natural, rubber, or plastic granulates and nat- length and thermal exchange is responsible for the thermal losses.
ural or synthetic fibrous materials. Hence, according to Allard and Champoux [12], the thermal char-
0
The purpose of this study is to investigate the acoustic absorp- acteristic length K , which characterizes the high-frequency
tion characteristics of a natural fibro-granular composite to over- behav-
ior of the bulk modulus K ðxÞ; is given as follows:
come the drawbacks of a single natural fiber composite. The R d
A A
K ¼ 2R
0
acoustic absorption performance of 30 mm thick composite sam- ¼2 ð4Þ
d
ple was plotted through analytical and experimental methods. V V
Subsequently, the possible effects of sample thickness, fiber-grain
0
size, binder additive and fiber–grain ratio were analytically inves- For fibrous materials with porosity close to one, K and K can be
tigated for the enhancement of acoustic absorption of this newly stated as Eqs. (5) and (6), respectively [15], as follows:
developed composite at the low-frequency region (f < 1000 Hz).
K ¼ 1=2prl ð5Þ
Coir fiber and rice husk grain are the acoustic materials which
were used in this study. The well-known rigid frame Johnson- 0
Champoux-Allard model was employed for analytical analysis.
K ¼ 1=prl ¼ 2K ð6Þ
Impedance tube measurement was performed for experimental The total length of fiber l per unit volume can be expressed as
analysis and the results were compared with analytical results follows:
to validate the findings. This innovative material can be applied
in the automotive industry, buildings, and indoor and outdoor 1
l¼ ð7Þ
sound control. pr 2
where r is the cross-sectional radius of the fiber.
2. Methodology Allard and Champoux [12,15], proposed the following expres-
sion of the bulk modulus K ðxÞ of rigid-framed porous materials:
2.1. Theoretical measurement: Johnson-Champoux-Allard model
cP o
K ðxÞ ¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 1
ð8Þ
02
Various techniques are used to predict the acoustic absorption c ðc 1Þ 1 jK02 Np q
8g
1þ
K N p qo
x x
mechanism in porous media. Almost all these techniques describe o
j 16k
the acoustic parameters, such as characteristic impedance and The characteristic impedance Z c ðxÞ, complex wave number
propagation constants of porous materials. The Johnson- kc ðxÞ, and surface acoustic impedance Z can be estimated as fol-
Champoux-Allard model is a rigid-frame model, in which the solid lows [15,16]:
phase of the frame remains motionless. The model was developed
1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
by Allard and Champoux [12], according to the previous work by Z c ðx Þ ¼ qðxÞ K ðxÞ ð9Þ
Johnson et al. [13]. Five non-acoustic parameters, namely, flow
/
resistivity, porosity, tortuosity, viscous characteristic length, and
p ffi ffiffiffiffiffi ffiffiffiffiffiffi ffiffi ffiffiffiffiffi ffiffiffiffiffiffi ð10Þ
thermal characteristic length, are considered in this model to pre- kc ðxÞ ¼ x qð Þx ð = ÞK x
dict the acoustical parameters. Viscous characteristic length and
thermal characteristic length are the shape factors related to vis- Z ¼ Z c ðxÞ cothðkc ðxÞÞ ð11Þ
cous and thermal loss, respectively.
With the surface acoustic impedance Z, the absorption coeffi-
Considering the effects of viscosity, Johnson et al. [14] defined
cient a, at a normal incidence of the porous layer while backed
the frame geometry-dependent parameter of viscous characteristic
with a rigid wall can be calculated as follows:
length (K) as follows:
R 2 Z Z0
2
v
dA fluid a¼1 ð12Þ
K¼2R 2 : ð1Þ Z þ Z0
v fluid dV
where Z 0 ¼ q0 c0 is the impedance of air.
 The effectiveness of any porous material depends on its sound
absorption coefficient which should be close to one over a large
frequency range.
The acoustic behavior of a composite structure made from
cylindrical natural fiber and grain was investigated to predict the
sound absorption coefficient of a fibro-granular composite mate-
rial. The effect of varying the other parameters on the acoustic
absorption performance of these materials was also investigated.
MatlabR 7.0 editor was used to plot the sound absorption coeffi-
cients in the frequency range from 0 kHz to 5 kHz.
2.2. Experimental measurement
The acoustic absorption test was performed on a set of two
impedance tubes SCS9020B/K, which was manufactured according
to ISO 10534-2 and ASTM E1050-98 standards [17]. The set con-
sisted of one high- frequency and one low-frequency impedance
tubes with diameters of 28 and 100 mm, respectively, two channel
data acquisition system 01 dB Symphonie, two 1/200 microphone
types GRAS-40BP in each tube and a random G10 noise generator.
Calibration of the microphones’ sensitivity was performed, by uti-
lizing the calibrator type GRAS-42AB at 114 dB level and 1 kHz.
The acoustic absorption coefficients were determined
independently in the low-frequency range (0–1600 Hz) and
high-frequency range (1600–5000 Hz), and the results are
presented by a combined plot in Figs. 4–10. Both frequency
ranges were linked by the user-
friendly SCS8100 software to measure the acoustic absorption
coefficient through the overall frequency pattern.
The air flow resistance of each sample was measured using the
ASTM C522 air flow resistance test system [18]. The test system
package consisted of a sample holder, data acquisition system with
vacuum pump and software package C522.
The average value of flow resistivity from three repeated tests
was considered for every sample. The materials and the
equipment used are shown in Figs. 1–3.
The fibrous component coir fiber and granular component rice
husk grain for the new composite were collected from the local
market. Both components were cleaned by spraying water and
dried in open sunlight for one week. To measure the physical char-
acteristics such as, average diameter, length, volume, and density
of fiber and grain, 20 samples were randomly chosen from each
collected material. The measured values of the physical character-
istics of both fibrous and granular components are fabricated in
Tables 1 and 2 at the latter part of the study.
The granular and fibrous components were mixed randomly
and the ratio of the two was fixed at 50:50 to prepare the
compos- ite samples with different thicknesses. The necessary
cohesion between the components was facilitated by a spray
binder adhe- sive purchased from a hardware shop. Plastic molds
with four dif- ferent thicknesses were prepared to shape the
composite samples.
Fig. 1. (a) Plastic molds, (b) shaping samples in molds, and (c) prepared samples.
Thereafter, the composite samples with 20, 30, 40, and 50 mm
thicknesses were prepared using the collected materials and plas-
tic molds shown in Fig. 1. Two samples of 28 and 100 mm diame-
ters were prepared for each thickness to test the acoustic
properties using the impedance tube. The masses of 100 mm
diam- eter fibro-granular composite samples with 20, 30, 40, and
50 mm thicknesses were measured as 30.15, 46.29, 61.68, and
95.87 g, respectively. Acoustic absorption was measured within
the fre- quency range from 0 kHz to 5 kHz.
3. Results and discussion
The basic properties of any material are its bulk density, average
density, length and diameter. These properties are needed to eval-
uate the five geometrical parameters, namely, flow resistivity,
porosity, tortuosity, viscous characteristic length, and thermal
characteristic length. The sound absorption coefficient of a mate-
rial is determined by these five parameters. The acoustic absorp-
tion coefficient of the fibro-granular composite was evaluated in
this study in terms of a well-known analytical approach, for the
normal incidence of sound waves.
The flow resistivities of the 20, 30, 40, and 50 mm thick samples
were measured experimentally using the ASTM C522 airflow resis-
tance test system [18], which is shown in Fig. 2. Following the idea
of Kino et al. [16], the porosity u, of new fibro-granular material
was implemented for the current study as follows:
qbulk s
ð Þ 13Þ
u¼1 ð
qf þ qg
where qf is the average density of the fiber, qg is the average den-
sity of the grain, and qbulkðs is the bulk density of the fibro-granular
Þ
composite sample.
The tortuosity a1 varies typically in the range of 1–1.06 for
fibrous materials (e.g., rock wool) and 1.1–1.8 for granular materi-
als. An empirical formula for tortuosity of the acoustic material
(coir fiber), can be expressed as follows [10,19]:
a1 ¼ 1 ð14Þ
pffi ffiffiffi
u
A noticeable amount of binder is always needed when prepar-
ing any composite. This binder additive has an undoubted effect
on the sound absorption performance of the composite. Swift
et al. [20] showed that the small pores inside a rubber granular
composite, become filled with binder causing the formation of
bridges between the grains. This phenomenon resulted in enlarged
surface area, reduced overall porosity, and increased tortuosity
and flow resistivity of the material.
In the current study, the influence of sample thickness, fiber–
grain ratio, fiber-grain size, and amount of binder per unit volume
of the composite material on the acoustic properties of the new
Fig. 2. (a) Equipment and experimental set up for flow resistivity measurement. The equipment is composed of data acquisition system including vacuum pump, software
package C522 and sample holder. (b) Fibro-granular composite sample holder.

Fig. 3. Experimental set up of fibro-granular acoustic absorption measurement. The equipment is composed of two tubes, a noise generator and two channel data
acquisition system 01 dB.

Fig. 4. Sound absorption coefficient of fibro-granular composite to validate the analytical outcome through impedance tube measurement.
composite were investigated. The effect of the amount of binder dfiber = diameter of natural fiber,
was compensated by reconstructing the fiber diameter as a new qbulkðbinderÞ ¼ mass of binder
= density of binder additive.
volume of the sample
parameter in the following equation:
qbulk binder
ð
Consequently, the total length of the fiber per unit volume of
dfiberðmixÞ ¼ dfiber þ dfiber Þ ð15Þ
qbulk ðs the material was developed into the following equation-
Þ
qf
where lmix ¼ ð1=pr 2mix Þ ð16Þ
dfiberðmixÞ = diameter of fiber with binder additive,
qbulk ðs
Þ
 Fig. 5. Analytical results of the acoustic absorption coefficients at different sample thickness.

Fig. 6. Experimental results of the acoustic absorption coefficients at different sample thickness.
where, interaction of air molecules with the material surface, resulting
rmix ¼ dfiber
Þ
ð mix
= radius of fiber with binder additive, in higher sound absorption of the material.
2
qf The pore size in a fibro-granular composite is controlled by the
qbulkðsÞ = fraction of fiber existing in the composite material.
binder additive, fiber and grain size and amount of the grains.
Some compensation was considered in the Johnson-Champoux-
The viscous characteristic length and thermal characteristic Allard model due to the introduction of rice husk granular
length are the two shape factors which describe the acoustic material and the binder additive in the new composite. It was
absorption mechanism of porous materials. The former is related assumed that binder became the part of the fiber and grain and
to the viscous losses in the smaller pores, while the latter is filled the porosity between them. Hence, Eq. (5) is amended
related to the thermal losses in the larger pores of the porous accordingly, to obtain the new viscous characteristic length as
materials [21]. Champoux and Stinson [22] stated that below:
effective density and bulk modulus are the two most important
acoustical parame- ters which can be determined by the pores K ¼ ð1=2pr mix lmix Þ u ð17Þ
with small and large cross-sectional areas, respectively. The main
Allard and Champoux [12] and Allard [15] showed that, at nor-
parameter influencing the sound absorption of a porous material
mal incidence of sound waves, the thermal characteristic length of
is the flow resistivity which depends on the pore size
the material with porosity close to one is twice as much as its vis-
distribution, porosity, pore shape and tortuosity. The viscous and
cous characteristic length. The porosity of the new composite
thermal effects, which are respon- sible for the dissipation of
ranges between 70% and 80% for all samples. Hence, the thermal
incident sound wave energy, are con- trolled by pore size.
characteristic length of the new composite can be evaluated by uti-
Higher energy dissipation is due to higher
lizing Allard’s [15] expression, as stated in Eq. (6).
Fig. 7. The acoustic absorption coefficients at different percentages of binder additive.

Fig. 8. The acoustic absorption coefficients at different fiber sizes.

 The rice husk particles are The accurate resonance
roughly in cylindrical shape prediction, including
with large aspect ratios [23]. complete absorp- tion
Hence, the coir fiber and the pattern, was estimated using
rice husk are considered as the Johnson-Champoux-Allard
natural cylindrical acoustic model. According to
materials. The phys- ical Johnson-Champoux-Allard
characteristics of the coir model the peak values of the
fiber and rice husk are acoustic absorption
shown in Tables 1 and 2, coefficient were found
respectively. 0.8730 at 777 Hz for the 30
The calculated values of mm thick sample. By
four non-acoustic geometrical contrast, the sound
parame- ters namely, absorption coefficients from
porosity u, tortuosity /1 , the impedance tube
viscous characteristic length measurement were 0.9000 at
K and thermal characteristic 741 Hz for the 30 mm thick
0
length K are listed in Table 3 sample. Therefore, a
at the specific fiber–grain promising agreement of the
ratio of 50:50 for all acoustic absorption
composite samples. The performances was observed
experimental values of flow between the experimental
resistivity are also provided and analytical outcomes.
in
The effect of sample
Table 3 to evaluate the sound
thickness, binder additive,
absorption coefficient of the
fiber-grain size and fiber-
fibro- granular composites
grain ratio on sound
with different thicknesses.
absorption was investigated.
The acoustic properties of
For investigating the effect of
the coir fiber and rice husk
sample thickness, fiber–grain
composite were determined
composite sample ratio was
in an impedance tube to
maintained at 50:50. Table 4
validate the analytical
shows the analytical and
outcome of the Johnson-
experimental results of the
Champoux-Allard model.
acoustic absorption
MatlabR 7.0 edi- tor was used coefficients for different
to plot the sound absorption thicknesses of the fibro-
coefficients in the fre- granular composite samples.
quency range from 0 kHz For both analytical and
to 5 kHz. The analytical experimental methods, the
and experimental results are acoustic absorption
shown in Fig. 4. for the 30 performance at the low-
mm thick sample. frequency region was
observed to increase with a
increase in sample thickness.
The results are shown in Figs.
5 and 6, by the plot of the
sound absorption coefficient.
 Fig. 9. The acoustic absorption coefficients at different grain sizes .

Fig. 10. The acoustic absorption coefficients at different ratios of fiber-grain.

 Similar to other ages of binder were
composites, a direct prepared for analytical
relationship between sam- ple investigation. The acoustic
thickness and sound absorption coefficients of the
absorption coefficient was fibro-granular composite
observed for the fibro- samples is fabricated in Table
granular composite at the 5, together with flow
low-frequency region. The resistivity data. An
coir fiber–rice husk fibro- enhancement at the low
granular composite shows frequency region was
improved result at increased observed due to the increase
thickness compared with in binder amount, which is
single natural coir fiber com- shown in Fig. 7, by the plot of
posite. Natural coir fiber the sound absorption
showed an average absorption coefficients using the
of 0.8 for frequencies (Hz) of Johnson-Champox- Allard
>1360, >940, and >578 at model.
sample thicknesses of 20, 30, A less significant effect of
and 45 mm, respectively. the binder additive on the
Unlike natural fiber, acoustic performance of fibro-
industrial fiber with less granular composite materials
moisture contents showed an was observed. An optimal
average absorption increase in the binder
0.8 for frequencies (Hz) of amount within the range of
>3190 and >1300 at sample 10%–40% of the total weight
thicknesses of 20 and 50 mm, of the sample contributes to
respectively [10,24]. However, higher flow resistivity and a
average absorp- tion of 0.8 for slightly better absorption
the fibro-granular composite performance at the low-
was found in the cur- rent frequency region. However,
study for frequencies (Hz) over a range of the optimal
<1321, <777, <578, and <449 amount of binder additive,
at thicknesses of 20, 30, 40, the composite sample
and 50 mm, respectively. The becomes stiff, and the peaks
variation in the frequency of shift toward the higher
the absorption coefficient frequency region because of
peaks with thickness is the the increase in structural
consequence of the change in damping as stated by
the quarter wavelength layer Wassilieff [25].
resonance. Following the previous
In order to reveal the researchers [9,24], an
binder effect on the acoustic investigation was performed
absorption properties of the in order to highlight the
composite, three samples influence of the fiber size on
with different percent- the acoustic absorption of
the new composite. Three
composite
Table 1
Physical characteristics of the natural coir fiber collected from local market.
3 3
Sample no. Diameter of fiber (mm) Weight of fiber (mg) Length of fiber (mm) Volume of fiber (mm ) Density of fiber (kg/m )

1 0.101 100 0.60 0.801 749

2 0.108 96 0.55 0.879 626
3 0.109 90 0.65 0.839 775
4 0.111 74 0.60 0.716 838
5 0.120 80 0.70 0.904 774
6 0.135 94 0.81 1.345 602
7 0.136 87 0.88 1.263 697
8 0.140 80 0.78 1.231 634
9 0.146 80 0.80 1.339 597
10 0.160 66 0.88 1.326 664
11 0.178 56 0.90 1.393 646
12 0.187 60 0.90 1.647 546
13 0.200 60 0.93 1.884 494
14 0.200 59 1.00 1.853 540
15 0.216 73 1.95 2.674 729
16 0.250 95 3.00 4.661 644
17 0.254 93 3.00 4.710 637
18 0.350 81 3.0 7.789 385
19 0.405 85 5.9 10.945 539
20 0.501 83 8.5 16.354 520

Total average diameter of fiber = 200 mm.

3
Total average density of fiber = 632 kg/m .

Table 2
Physical characteristics of natural rice husk grain collected from local market.
3 3
Sample no. Diameter of grain (mm) Weight of grain (mg) Length of grain (mm) Volume of grain (mm ) Density of grain (kg/m )

1 0.20 0.20 10.1 0.317 631

2 0.25 0.35 9.5 0.466 751
3 0.30 0.50 9.6 0.678 737
4 0.40 0.80 10.6 1.331 601
5 0.60 2.00 10.7 3.024 661
6 0.70 2.50 10.0 3.847 650
7 0.73 2.80 10.0 4.183 669
8 0.80 2.80 9.00 4.522 619
9 0.85 3.40 10.0 5.672 599
10 0.90 4.20 11.0 6.994 601
11 0.90 3.50 10.0 6.359 550
12 1.00 4.30 10.5 8.243 522
13 1.00 4.10 10.3 8.086 507
14 1.05 4.00 9.30 8.049 497
15 1.10 4.10 9.00 8.549 480
16 1.15 4.90 10.5 10.901 450
17 1.18 4.80 10.0 10.93 439
18 1.20 5.40 10.0 11.304 478
19 1.20 5.50 10.5 11.869 463
20 1.23 5.80 10.5 12.470 465

Total average length of grain = 10 mm

3
Total average density of grain = 569 kg/m

Table 3
Five geometrical parameters of fibro-granular composite.
Thickness Mass of the sample for 100 mm Flow resistivity r Porosity Tortuosity Viscous characteristics length Thermal characteristics length
(mm) diameter (g) (Nsm )
4
u / K (mm) 0
K (mm)
1

20 30.15 2148 0.8402 1.1137 10.626 21.252

30 46.29 4042 0.8364 1.0934 10.672 21.344
40 61.68 6206 0.8356 1.0940 10.989 21.977
50 95.87 7973 0.7967 1.1203 13.292 26.584

Table 4
Measured values of the sound absorption coefficients (aÞ at different thicknesses of the coir fiber-rice husk fibro-granular composite.

Sample thickness (mm) Frequency (Hz) Analytical results of A Frequency (Hz) Experimental results of A

20 1321 0.9135 1493 0.9000

30 777 0.8730 741 0.9000
40 553 0.8535 736 0.8650
50 449 0.8414 501 0.8577
Table 5 Table 7
Measured values of the sound absorption coefficients at different binder percentages Measured values of the sound absorption coefficients at different grain lengths of
of 30 mm coir fiber-rice husk fibro-granular composite sample. 30 mm coir fiber-rice husk fibro-granular composite sample.

Binder additives (% of Flow Frequency Sound Grain length Flow resistivity Frequency Sound absorption
4
30 mm sample weight) resistivity (Hz) absorption (mm) (Nsm ) (Hz) coefficient
4
(Nsm ) coefficient
4.5 4411 727 0.8472
12 3616 819 0.8903 7.5 4051 764 0.8604
22 4042 777 0.8730 10 4042 777 0.8730
32 6394 739 0.8553

Table 8
samples of different fiber diameters were prepared for this investi- Measured values of the sound absorption coefficients at different ratios of the coir
gation. The average grain length was fixed at 10 mm for all three fiber–rice husk fibro-granular composite at 30 mm sample thickness.

samples. Table 6 shows the analytical results of the sound absorp- Fiber:grain Flow resistivity Frequency Sound absorption
tion coefficients for 30 mm thick samples with three different (Nsm )
4
(Hz) coefficient
fiber
diameters of 150, 200 and 300 lm. The significant enhancement of 75:25 3272 795 0.8808
the acoustic absorption performance at the low-frequency region 50:50 4042 777 0.8730
was observed with the reduction of fiber size, which is shown in 25:75 5662 752 0.8617

Fig. 8.
The potential role of the grain size on the acoustic absorption
was investigated by Swift et al. [20]. Where the authors reported,
the smaller grain size leads better acoustic performance by con-
tributing larger surface area in the composite. In order to investi-
gate the effectiveness of grain size on the sound absorption of
the fibro-granular composite, three composite samples of different
grain sizes were prepared and for all three samples the average
fiber diameter was fixed at 200 lm. Like other investigations on
the factors such as, sample thickness, binder amount and fiber
size, the specific combination of fiber-grain was maintained at
50:50 for this case too. Table 7 shows the analytical results of
the sound absorption coefficients for 30 mm thick samples with
three differ- ent grain lengths of 4.5 mm, 7.5 mm and 10 mm. Fig.
9 shows the acoustic absorption response of the fibro-granular
composite at three different grain sizes, in terms of rigid frame
Johnson- Champoux-Allard method. The enhancement of the
acoustic absorption performance at the low-frequency region was
observed with the reduction of grain size.
In Figs. 9 and 10, the analytical outcomes of the absorption
coef- ficients are plotted for 30 mm thick fibro-granular composite
sam- ples with varying fiber and grain sizes respectively. Results
show the both agreements enhanced the acoustic absorption of
the com- posite at low frequency region. This phenomena can be
explained by the fact, that a composite with the combination of
thinner fiber and smaller grains possessed the higher surface
area, more tortu- ous path and higher airflow resistance. Hence,
it leads to higher absorption coefficient and shifts the peak
towards the low fre- quency, which follows the previous work as
addressed by previous researchers [9,20].
The acoustic absorption properties of the fibro-granular com-
posite with varying ratios of fiber–grain combination were also
evaluated in this study. Three samples with fiber–grain ratios of
75:25, 50:50, and 25:75 were prepared to predict the best
acoustic behavior at the low-frequency region. Table 8 verted into heat energy, leading to higher acoustic absorption.
demonstrates the acoustic absorption behavior of these fibro-
granular composite samples. The sound absorption coefficients
of these composites
at constant sample thickness of 30 mm are plotted in Fig. 10,
according to the Johnson-Champox-Allard model.
The fiber–grain ratio is one of the key features for good acoustic
absorption performance. Approximately equal amounts of fiber–
grain component were needed to achieve high absorption coeffi-
cient [5,26]. Khan [5] reported the best value of the sound absorp-
tion coefficient when the fiber–grain ratios were 40:60 and 60:40
for the composite with combined nylon fiber and PVC carpet
grain. In the current study, the best value of the acoustic
absorption coef- ficient of fibro-granular composite was
obtained at fiber–grain ratio of 25:75 at the low-frequency
region.
Thus, the fibro-granular composite is superior to the simple
fibrous composite for commercial application, especially for low-
frequency acoustic absorbent material. This results was derived
by increasing the sample thickness, binder amount, changing the
fiber-grain sizes, fiber-grain ratio in terms of analytical and exper-
imental methods. The result can be described by the fact that the
introduction of granular materials in the fibrous composite causes
the reduction in porosity and two shape factors by filling the pores
in an optimal way which contributes to higher flow resistivity and
tortuosity and thereby higher acoustic absorption, which exactly
mimicked the simple law of the compression effect described by
Castagnede et al. [27], where they pointed out that, in a com-
pressed fibrous material, the fibers are brought nearer to each
other without experiencing any deformation in radius. Similarly,
in the current study, the granular component of the fibro-
granular composite formed bridges between the fibers by filling
the small pores within the composite without resulting in any
deformation in the fiber radius. Furthermore, a larger surface area
was created within the composite for more interaction among air
molecules within the frame. Hence, more sound energy was con-
4. Conclusions

The fibro-granular composite from coconut coir fiber and cylin-

drical rice husk grain can be used as an acoustic absorbent mate-
rial. The acoustic absorption of the composite was investigated
Table 6 using the Johnson-Champoux-Allard model. Experimental investi-
Measured values of the sound absorption coefficients at different fiber diameters of gations using impedance tubes were performed to validate the
30 mm coir fiber-rice husk fibro-granular composite sa mple.
analytical method. The theoretical and experimental data showed
Fiber diameter Flow resistivity Frequency Sound absorption that, at low frequency <780 Hz, the sound absorption coefficient
(lm) 4
(Hz) coefficient
(Nsm ) of the 30 mm thick composite was within the range of 80%–90%.
150 5109 722 0.8418 The results provide a reliable guidance for the possible application
200 4042 777 0.8730
of the novel composite as a promising low-frequency sound-
300 3275 978 0.9345
absorbing material.
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