Research Regarding the Acoustic Properties of Composite

Materials Used for Reduction of the Traffic Noise

Mariana Domnica STANCIUa, Ioan CURTUb, Janos TIMARa, Calin ROSCAb
a
Scientific Research Department: High-Tech Product for Automotive,
Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania
mariana.stanciu@unitbv.ro
b
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Transilvania University of Braşov,
B-dul Eroilor 29, Braşov 500036, Romania, curtui@unitbv.ro, icrosca@unitbv.ro

ABSTRACT

Recent studies performed in the European Union revealed that about 120 million
people in the EU (more than 30% of the total population) are exposed to road traffic noise
levels above 55 Ldn dB (day/night noise level). More than 50 million people are exposed to
noise levels above 65 Ldn dB. It is estimated that 10 % of the EU population are exposed to
rail noise above 55 LAeq dB. The data on noise nuisance by aircraft are the most uncertain,
but studies indicate that 10 % of the total EU population may be highly annoyed by air
transport noise. In these circumstances, traffic noise remains a major environmental problem
which will become more acute because of increasing the transport demand. To reduce the
traffic noise is it necessary to apply complementary methods: reducing traffic volumes,
construction of subways and overground passage, emplacement of sound barriers and/or green
areas.
The paper deals with aspects that are concern to acoustics of wood based plates with
potential application in environmental architecture. To determine the acoustical parameters
such as resonance frequency, damping coefficient, modal shapes, the Pulse soft and
Bruel&Kjær equipment were used. The influence of wood species, moisture content,
thickness, material structure of samples on their acoustic characteristics was the main
objective of this research. A simple and efficiently method for measuring fundamental
frequency and damping coefficient of the sample is described in the paper. The obtained
results through experimental and analytical method are similarly with literature.
Start 2nd and subsequent pages here

1. INTRODUCTION

The noise pollution has a significant impact on human health, especially in the urban area.
One of the current problems of urban noise is increasing of road vehicle fleet compared to
capacity of streets, urban architecture and the quality of sound insulation in buildings.
According to European legislation on protecting the population against noise, local authorities
of large cities of Romania are required to elaborate the noise map of the city. Among them is
the Brasov where the noise map was developed as it can be seen in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Noise map of Brasov City (Romania) performed by INCERTRANS S.A.

The determination of noise level of Brasov reveals that the noise level is above the
allowed limit (80 dB on main streets and 70 dB on connecting streets – in accordance with
10144/1-80 Standards), which involves finding the viable solutions to reduce the traffic noise
[11].
In the framework of European policy regarding the noise reduction as European normative
2002/49/CE and 2003/613/CE, is suggested to develop global strategies with actions on the
noise source, on the receptor and on the sound propagation medium [8]. The strategy requires
harmonization of various methods to reduce noise such as: traffic redirection to achieve a
uniform distribution in terms of noise, setting the unidirectional streets, speed restrictions, the
interdiction of certain categories of vehicles on certain streets, construction of subways and
overground passage, emplacement of sound barriers and/or green areas.
The paper aims to present the results of scientifically research on plates made from
wood based composites called lignocelluloses composite in terms of natural frequency and
damping coefficient. Regarding acoustic parameters, the lignocelluloses plates were studied
from different points of view: in terms of natural frequency and damping coefficients, sound
absorption coefficient, reflection coefficient, acoustic impedance, transmission attenuation,
using a specific method to determine each parameter. The objectives of this research are:
presentation of the equipment and the procedures of impact hammer method, determination
of: logarithmic decrement, damping ratio and natural frequency of wood based composite
plates. The study represents a part of a extensive and complex research concerning the
multifunctional structure with environment role made from renewable materials as wood.
Lignocelluloses composite materials are made from veneers, sawdust, fibers, wood
chips with different sizes, most of them being residues resulted from primary and secondary
wood processing. Mixture of the resin and matrix leads to obtain materials with new
properties and with different statically and dynamical behavior. The acoustic qualities of a
mechanical structure are intrinsically linked to the material they are made of and also linked to
own elastically properties. The damping properties of these materials are generated by their
structure: continuous and discontinuous randomly oriented short fibers.
The wood’s behavior under the acoustic waves depends on the one hand on the sound
energy which makes contact with it and on the other hand it depends on the nature and the
state of the wooden material, respectively on the macro and microscopic structure of the wood
– the structure of the cellular membrane, the fibers’ dimensions and cohesion, the presence of
some own chemicals, the wood’s humidity, the temperature of the wood, the elastically
properties, and it also depends on the structure’s layout in proportion to the sound source
(longitudinal, transversal, radial, tangential, complex). Depending on moisture content,
microscopic structure, sized (thickness), section, wood and lignocelluloses materials can be
used in applications that are designed to isolate noise and vibrations (sound absorbing panels
in civil, social, cultural, industrial, automotive, paving, etc.) or the construction of musical
instruments [12]. For the acoustical insulation of walls the relevant constants are: the surface
mass or the mass density, the critical frequency and the damping factor.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

The problem of traffic noise reduction has many approaches. The traffic noise
emission has been study in almost European country on real cases from urban area due to the
legislation on this filed. The noise maps lead to improve solution regarding the traffic
operation at roundabouts and their capacity, reduction of speed and traffic flow, location the
acoustics panels [9, 14].
Regarding the reduction of noise level using insulating structures, one of the field of
research is based on study of acoustical properties of wood and lignocelluloses materials as
ecological material. This issue has been studied by many researchers, but each approach
differs by the objectives of analyses, the method, types of tested structures or the features of
materials. In Acoustic of Wood, Bucur [2] focused on progress and current acknowledge in
wood acoustic based on literature review from the last 25-30 years, in terms of velocity of
wave propagation in wood, elastic parameters determined with ultrasonic methods,
logarithmic decrement of different wood species.
Pellerin and Ross summarize the studies based on nondistructive evaluation test of
wood materials, starting with presentation of apparatus and calculus for determination of
dynamical behaviour of wood [10]. Speed of sound transmission, attenuation of induced
stress wave techniques and other parameters measured leads to characterization of wood.
Rossing and Fletcher develop the theoretical aspects of the fundamental principles of
vibrations and sound waves for different materials and structures as beam, plate, membrane,
musical instruments, microphone and cavities [11].
The previous studies of authors are focused on finite element analyses and
experimental research of plates from guitar body, bodies as individual structures and in
conjunction with neck in terms of dynamical behavior (fundamental frequency, natural
frequency, logarithmic decrement, resonance frequency and modal shape) [ 5, 6. 7, 11]. Cerbu
and Curtu [3] studied the influence of aggressive environmental factors on elastic properties
of composite materials.

3. MATERIAL AND METHOD

To determine the natural frequency and damping coefficient of plywood plates, the
method impact hammer was used. The method consists of hitting plate (structure) at central
points of plate with a hammer impact for light structures. The response of structure to
vibrations has been captured by means of four accelerometers (measuring on z direction)
located in symmetrically points of the plate[ 12, 13]. The captured signal was displayed with
Pulse soft and the primary data were processed with ME’ Scope VES 4.0 software. The
experimental stand was built as it can be seen in Figure 2. Each plate (1) was freely supported
on a foam device (2) and hit with impact hammer type B & K 8204 (4) in central point of
plate. The vibrations of plate were captured with four accelerometers type B&K 8320 (3) and
transmitted to Pulse hardware and displayed with Pulse soft. A work program in Pulse soft
was developed to capture and processing the experimental data. The connections of
experimental set-up has been configured, the types of measurements and implicit functions
(Time, Fast Fourier Transform, Fourier Spectrum, Complex Time) were established. The
results of measurement were displayed in a different task of soft and saved as files for
processing with ME’ Scope program.

Impact hammer B&K type 8204 Accelerometers B&K type 4517-002

Figure. 2 Experimental set-up (1- studied sample, 2 - yielding seat, 3 - accelerometer (s), 4 - impact
hammer, 5 - Pulse hardware, 6- Pulse software)
 The plywood from different species (sprice, hornbeam, lime) with rectangular geometry
as in Figure 2 were tested. Before the effective tested, it was measured the moisture content of
wood and the thicknesses of plates in 7 points, using the ultrasound moisture meter type
Merlin PM1-E. In table 1 are summarized the average values of geometrical sizes, moisture
content, density and Young’s modulus from literature of the tested samples [2, 4].

Table 1. Physical properties of sample used for experimental test

Materials of plates Thicknesses Length Width Moisture Density Young’s
plywood h [mm] L [mm] l [mm] content U  [kg/m3] Modulus
[%] EL [MPa]
Sample 1 Spruce 2 530 415 8.7 % 638,781 12000
Sample 2 Spruce 2 530 415 7.4 % 641,054 12000
Sample 3 Spruce 2 530 415 6,6 % 645,601 12000
Sample 4 Spruce 2 530 415 9.7 % 627,415 12000
Sample 5 Hornbeam 2 530 415 7% 795,635 16000
Sample 6 Lime 2 530 415 8.9 % 709,252 13300

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

First results obtained with Pulse system refer to time capture of accelerometer signals
as is shown in Figures 3 and 4. It could be noticed that the amplitude of vibration decreases in
time and tends to zero. The dynamical behaviour of wooden plates is governed by the damped
harmonic motion. Applying Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to the time signal exported from
Pulse to ME’ Scope soft, the values of natural frequencies and damping coefficient were
obtained as it. It is found that the analyzed composite plates present multiple natural
frequencies. In the next part of paper the fundamental frequencies and damping ratio will be
discussed.

Figure 3. Signal Capture with Pulse soft (time history of the underdamped motion and autospectrum)
 Figure 4. Signal Processing with ME’ Scope soft

Processing the data with ME’Scope soft, it were determine the fundamental frequency
and damping ration ζ which are summarized in Table 2.
It was noticed that average values of fundamental frequency and damping ratio
depending on the particular characteristics of wood, even in the same species. From this point
of view, the wood and all lignocelluloses materials are versatile materials being used for
acoustic insulating when the damping ratio and implicit the acoustic loss have big values
(more than 0,02), or for resonance values in musical instruments construction.

Table 2. Measured and calculated values of fundamental frequency and damping ratio
Sample Mass Calculated Experimental Experimental
m [Kg] Fundamental Fundamental Damping
Frequency f [Hz] Frequency f [Hz] Ratio ζ
Sample 1 Spruce 0,281 7,114311 9,679375 0,018738
Sample 2 Spruce 0,282 7,101686 8,930625 0,017050
Sample 3 Spruce 0,284 7,076636 9,801250 0,017958
Sample 4 Spruce 0,276 7,178463 8,911250 0,018475
Sample 5 Hornbeam 0,350 6,374586 9,612000 0,015780
Sample 6 Lime 0,312 6,751631 9,923125 0,017788

In Figure 5 is displayed the comparison between calculated and measurement

fundamental frequency.

Figure 5. Comparison between calculated and measurement fundamental frequency

It can be noticed that were obtained small differences due to the hypothesis used in
mathematical chalculus. The calculus is based on Eq (1) [6], where: h is thickness of plate
[mm], L – witdh of plate [mm], E – Young’s Modulus [MPa], ρ – Density [kg/m3] and n – the
number of mode.

fn=(0.113*h/L2)*sqrt (E/ρ) * [3.01122, 52, .......(2n+1)2] (1)

Comparing the experimental results with literature as is shown in Table 3, it can be

remarks that we obtained similarly values, using different experimental method.

Table 3. Comparison of results to the literature ones

Measurements in Longitudinal – Experimental Fundamental Experimental
Radial plane of wood Frequency f [Hz] Damping Ratio ζ
Stanciu / Spruce plywood (h= 2 mm) 9.476 0.017632
Bucur (2006) /Sitka spruce 9.531 0,013000

Given the complex nature of the resonance phenomenon, as a result of interaction of

different factors - biochemical, elastic, techniques, sound, Beldeanu and Pescarus (1996)
introduced the concept of sound quality grade, making statistical studies on spruce bars valued
as resonance wood [1]. Thus they established the following groups of values of logarithmic
decrement expressed as 2tan, for a sound quality of resonance spruce: very good (0.0175 -
0.0197), good values (0.0197 - 0.0219) and failure values (more than 0.022). Other studies in
the international literature [2, 10] using ultrasound performed on wood resonance bars shows
that the proper values for acoustic insulating must be above 0.02 ÷ 0.026.

4. CONCLUSSION

The present method the presented method is an advanced variant of scientific research
to study the dynamic characteristics of materials in a modern and relatively easy way. Impact
hammer method involves the proper equipment, an adequate software and rigor in
determination. This method of scientific investigation can be used for any type of structure
and material. In our research the acoustical characteristics of lignocelluloses plates were
presented. Each species presents own macro and microstructure, for which appreciation
acoustic characteristics requires a very rigorous statistical study, which is not subject to
present research. Even within the same species, there were differences due non-homogeneity
sensitive material timber and method of cutting. The further investigation will continue with
other types of lignocelluloses composite plates: medium density fibre (MDF), chipboard
(PAL), lamella panels, corrugate and others. After the fundamental frequency and damping
ratio determination, sound absorption coefficient, reflection coefficient, acoustic impedance,
transmission loss coefficient will be studied for each wood based materials.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This paper is supported by the Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources

Development (SOP HRD), financed from the European Social Fund and by the Romanian
Government under the contract number POSDRU POSTDOC-DD, ID59323.
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