Experiment No.

3 by-Prathmesh Harshad Chavan

Measurement of Transmission loss of a sound absorbing material using
impedance tube
Aim: Determination of sound transmission loss of sound absorbent material using impedance
tube.
Apparatus:
1. Impedance tube
2. Microphones
3. Signal processing unit
4. Loudspeaker
5. Signal Generator
6. Thermometer
Theory:
Impedance tube: The apparatus is essentially a tube with a test sample holder at one end and a
sound source at the other

o The impedance tube shall be straight with a uniform cross-section (diameter or
cross dimension within ±0.2 %) and with rigid, smooth, non-porous walls without
holes or slits (except for the microphone positions) in the test section.

o The walls shall be heavy and thick enough so that they are not excited to vibrations
by the sound signal and show no vibration resonances in the working
frequency range of the tube.  For metal walls, a thickness of about 5 % of the
diameter is recommended for circular tubes.

o It is recommended that the side wall thickness be about 10 % of the cross dimension
of the tube. The same holds for tube walls made of wood; these should be
reinforced and damped by an external coating of steel or lead sheets.

o The shape of the cross-section of the tube is arbitrary, in principle.  Circular or

rectangular (if    rectangular, then    preferably    square) cross-sections    are
recommended.

o If rectangular tubes are composed of plates, care shall be taken that there are no air
leaks (e.g. by sealing with adhesives or with a finish). Tubes should be sound and
vibration isolated against external noise or vibration.

Sound Transmission Loss When sound reaches a barrier, three things can happen, as shown in Figure 1:
• Absorption – The sound is absorbed and dissipated as heat.
• Transmission – Sound can pass through the barrier.
• Reflection – Sound can be reflected back off the barrier.

Figure 1: Sound at a barrier can be absorbed, transmitted, or reflected.

Sound transmission loss (STL) is a quantification of how much sound energy is prevented from
traveling through an acoustic treatment. Transmission loss quantifies the effectiveness of
acoustic treatments for an engineering application.
• Sound transmission loss can be defined as a ratio of the sound energy transmitted through a
treatment versus the amount of sound energy on the incident side of the material.

Where, Wi = the incident sound power,

Wt. = the transmitted sound power.
• Sound transmission loss is a function of frequency.
• The transmission loss performance of a certain material will differ greatly with frequency (see
Figure 2, below). The y-axis of a plot represents how many dBs the acoustic absorber reduces the
incident energy.
Figure 2: Sound transmission loss as a function of frequency. At 2050Hz, the acoustic absorber reduces the
incident energy by 10dB. The data used in this plot was calculated using the matrix method on a muffler.

There are a few methods to determine STL in an impedance tube. The four microphone transfer
matrix method is used which assumes a lumped parameter model of a 3D acoustic cavity.
• In this equation set, p1, v1, p2, and v2 can be measured. The unknowns are T11, T12, T21, and
T22.
• Because there are four unknowns and two equations, there must be two different loading
conditions to create four equations to solve for the four unknowns.
• To get the two different conditions, it is possible to either run the test under two loading
conditions or change the source location between test runs.

The two load method is recommended over the two sources method because:
• It is easy and quick to change the end condition.
• There are no cables moved between conditions.
• Inexpensive objects like tubing is moved (not fragile/expensive objects like sources).
• Typically, the two loading conditions are a rigid termination and an anechoic termination.
Applications and Measurements:
• Sound transmission loss can be a good metric for benchmarking the acoustic performance of
products.
• Common testing applications include:
• Determining the effectiveness of a muffler in a system
• Determining the transmission loss of various ducting systems
• Determining how well a building panel or partition attenuates sound energy
• Determining how well an instrument panel insulates a cabin from engine noise.
Knowing the sound transmission loss helps to determine and improve acoustic properties of
materials.
Specifications of impedance tube:

Experimental Set Up:

Procedure:
1. Setting Up the Impedance Tube
1.1 Tube Assembly
1.2. Inserting Microphones
1.3 Full Setup and Wiring
2. Impedance Software
2.2 Channel Setup
2.3 Source Setup
2.4 Phase Calibration
2.5 Measurements
1. We performed the experiment in large size impedance tube with specifications mentioned in
the table.
2. The experiment is carried out for melamine foam material and the graph of decay rate is
studied for the further analysis.
3. The signal amplitude shall be selected to be at least 10 dB higher than the background noise at
all frequencies of interest as chosen by microphone locations and selection of the reference plane
of the material. 4. Selection of the number of averages by the spectra averaging based on the
microphone positions and errors due to noise to be cancelled out. The number of averages
needed depends on the tested material and the required accuracy of the transfer function
estimate.
5. The corresponding transmission loss for different frequencies is shown after the signal
processing on the display unit

Working Frequency Range:

The working frequency range is f1<f<fu:

• f1- lower working frequency of the tube, limited by the accuracy of the signal processing
equipment.
•   f- operating frequency
• fu-upper working frequency of the tube, chosen to avoid the occurrence of non-plane
wave mode propagation

Observation:
Frequency (Hz) Transmission Loss
(dB)
630 2.9

800 3.1

1000 2.8

1250 3.2

1600 3.5
 Frequency Vs Sound Transmission Loss.

Conclusion:
1. The frequency range captured is between 630 Hz to 1600 Hz
2. As the frequency increases from 630 Hz to 16000 Hz the sound transmission loss of material
increases.