Experiment No.

3: Measurement of sound absorption coefficient of a sound

absorbing material using impedance tube
Aim: Determination of the sound absorption coefficient of sound absorbing material for
normal sound incidence as per ISO-10534-2.
Instruments required:

 Impedance tube:
 Microphones
 Signal processing unit
 Loudspeaker
 Signal Generator
 Thermometer and barometer
Theory:
Sound absorption coefficient is used to evaluate the sound absorption efficiency of
materials. It is the ratio of absorbed energy to incident energy and is represented by α. If the
acoustic energy can be absorbed entirely, then α = 1.
The sound absorption coefficient of materials is correlated with frequency, and it varies with
different frequencies. The sound absorption coefficient frequency characteristic curves can
be used to illustrate the sound absorption properties of different frequencies exactly. It is
not convenient to compare and state, so the average sound absorption coefficient, which is
the average of an acoustic material's absorption coefficients at a specified set of
frequencies, is used for simplification.
This method uses an impedance tube with a sound source connected to one end and the
test sample mounted in the tube at the other end.
• In this test method, standing waves are generated in a tube by a noise source and the
decomposition of the interference field is achieved by the measurement of acoustic
pressures at two fixed locations using wall-mounted microphones or an in-tube traversing
microphone.
• Then the calculation of the complex acoustic transfer function, the normal incidence
absorption co-efficient is carried out.
• The impedance tube method is limited to parametric studies at normal incidence but
requires samples of the test object which are of the same size as the cross-section of the
impedance tube. For materials that are locally reacting, diffuse incidence sound absorption
coefficients can be estimated from measurement results obtained by the impedance tube
method. For transformation of the test results from the impedance tube method (normal
incidence) to diffuse sound incidence we need to refer the standard.
Specifications of impedance tube:

Experimental Set Up:

Experimental 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

Procedure:
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.

Observation:

Frequency (Hz) Absorption Coeffiecient

630 0.46
800 0.11
1000 -0.21
1250 0.41
1600 0.71

Frequency Vs Absorption Coefficient:

Conclusion:
1. The frequency range captured is between 630 Hz to 1600 Hz.
2. As the frequency increases from 630 Hz to 1000 Hz the sound absorption coefficient of
material decreases and at 1000Hz it becomes negative.
3. From 1000Hz up to 1600Hz the sound absorption coefficient increases with increase in
Frequency Hence the material can be used to absorb the sound of frequency range above
1000Hz.