Analysis of sound absorption performance of acoustic absorbers made of fibrous materials

Absorbing properties of multi-layer acoustic absorbers were modeled using the impedance translation theorem and the Garai and Pompoli empirical model, which enables a determination of the characteristic impedance and propagation constant of fibrous sound-absorbing materials. The theoretical model was applied to the computational study of performance of single-layer acoustic absorber backed by a hard wall and the absorber consisting of one layer of absorbing material and an air gap between the rear of the material and a hard back wall. Simulation results have shown that a high thickness of absorbing material may cause wavy changes in the frequency relationship of the normal and random incidence absorption coefficients. It was also found that this effect is particularly noticeable for acoustic absorbers with a large thickness of air gap between the absorbing material and a hard back wall.