Characterizing and modeling of acoustical performance of natural sound absorber

Abstract Manufacturing industries including the automotive industries continue to refine their products toward adopting green materials as an effort to reduce the environmental impact and at the same time, company branding. One of the applications is natural acoustic materials for noise control. Characterization of the materials is important to obtain the acoustical properties required as the parametric input in simulation at the design state, for example, in statistical energy analysis to determine the performance of sound absorption and sound insulation in a car cabin, which directly affects the flow of acoustic and vibration energy. In this chapter, the methodology of measuring and modeling the sound absorption coefficient of natural material is presented. Here the natural kenaf fibers are used as the test material, and the presented methodology is applicable for other natural fibers. The modeling employs the inverse method using Johsnon–Champoux–Allard model, where five acoustical parameters are obtained from an optimization process from the experimental data of sound absorption coefficient. It is demonstrated that the method can be used as a fast and practical solution for acoustic characterization of new materials.