Sound absorption of textile curtains – theoretical models and validations by experiments and simulations

Textile curtains can be designed to be good sound absorbers. Their acoustical performance, as usually described by the sound absorption coefficient, not only depends on the textile itself but also on the drapery fullness and the backing condition, that is, the spacing between the fabric and a rigid backing wall, or the absence of a backing in the case of a freely hanging curtain. This article reviews existing models to predict the diffuse-field sound absorption coefficient, which to date can only predict the case of flat curtains. A set of existing models is extended to the case of curtains with drapery fullness using a semi-empirical approach. The models consider different backing conditions, including freely hanging curtains. The existing and new models are validated by comparing predicted sound absorption coefficients with data measured in a reverberation room. Hereby, curtains consisting of different fabrics and with different degrees of fullness are considered. Besides situations with rigid backing, also the measurement data of textiles hung freely in space are included in this study. Comparisons reveal a very good agreement between measured and predicted sound absorption coefficients. Compared to currently available commercial sound absorption prediction software that can only handle the situation of flat textiles with rigid backing, the results of the presented models not only show a better agreement with measured data, but also cover a broader range of situations. The presented models are thus well applicable in the design and development of new textiles as well as in the room acoustical planning process.

[1]  H. V. Fuchs,et al.  PREDICTING THE ABSORPTION OF OPEN WEAVE TEXTILES AND MICRO-PERFORATED MEMBRANES BACKED BY AN AIR SPACE , 1999 .

[2]  Jesús Alba,et al.  The acoustic absorption of textile curtains on the function of the fullness , 2013 .

[3]  Robert B. Newman,et al.  Collected Papers on Acoustics , 1927 .

[4]  Colin H. Hansen,et al.  ENGINEERING NOISE CONTROL: Theory and Practice , 1988 .

[5]  F. Chevillotte.  Controlling sound absorption by an upstream resistive layer , 2012 .

[6]  Cheol-Ho Jeong,et al.  Guideline for Adopting the Local Reaction Assumption for Porous Absorbers in Terms of Random Incidence Absorption Coefficients , 2011 .

[7]  Reto Pieren,et al.  Sound absorption modeling of thin woven fabrics backed by an air cavity , 2012 .

[8]  J. Allard.  Propagation of Sound in Porous Media: Modelling Sound Absorbing Materials , 1994 .

[9]  G. Rosenhouse,et al.  Noise absorption by woven fabrics , 1990 .

[10]  V. S. Moholkar,et al.  Acoustical Characteristics of Textile Materials , 2003 .

[11]  V. M. A. Peutz.  Sound Absorption of Curtains , 1970 .

[12]  Masayuki Morimoto,et al.  Detailed analysis of the acoustic properties of a permeable membrane , 1998 .

[13]  Franck Sgard,et al.  Modeling of perforated plates and screens using rigid frame porous models , 2007 .

[14]  Yakov Yakubov,et al.  A Model for Calculating the Noise Absorption Capacity of Nonwoven Fiber Webs , 1999 .

[15]  Yvan Champoux,et al.  New empirical equations for sound propagation in rigid frame fibrous materials , 1992 .

[16]  Y. Jeng-Tsong,et al.  ON THE ABSORPTION COEFFICIENTS OF β- RAYS , 1947 .

[17]  Tilak Dias,et al.  Sound absorbtion in knitted structures for interior noise reduction in automobiles , 2006 .

[18]  Dah-You Maa,et al.  Microperforated-panel wideband absorbers , 1987 .

[19]  John L. Davy,et al.  The acoustic radiation impedance of a rectangular panel , 2015 .

[20]  E. N. Bazley,et al.  Acoustical properties of fibrous absorbent materials , 1970 .

[21]  Helmut V. Fuchs.  Applied Acoustics: Concepts, Absorbers, and Silencers for Acoustical Comfort and Noise Control , 2013 .

[22]  Cheol-Ho Jeong.  Non-uniform sound intensity distributions when measuring absorption coefficients in reverberation chambers using a phased beam tracing. , 2010, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[23]  Reto Pieren,et al.  Modelling parallel assemblies of porous materials using the equivalent circuit method. , 2015, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[24]  Reto Pieren,et al.  Predicting sound absorption coefficients of lightweight multilayer curtains using the equivalent circuit method , 2015 .

[25]  Francesco Martellotta,et al.  Room acoustic modelling of textile materials hung freely in space: from the reverberation chamber to ancient churches , 2016 .