Acoustic characteristics of sound absorbable high performance concrete

In order to effectively control ambient noise from transportation, this experimental study aims to develop sound absorbable high performance concrete. The main parameters evaluated include porosity, acoustic absorption coefficient, noise reduction coefficient, compressive strength, and freeze-thaw resistance. The PU test setup is adopted to characterize the acoustic absorption coefficients of concrete in a frequency range from 0 to 3000 Hz. The experimental control variables of the mix design in this research are the void ratio, by using various foam agents including aluminum powder, and acoustic characteristics, by using cellulose fiber and zeolite. It is proven that aluminum powder and cellulous fiber are effective to promote greater porosity and enhance the sound absorption capacity, respectively. A multi-layered perforated panel model is adopted to simulate acoustic absorption characteristics of the developed concrete. The comparison between the model and experiments highlights that the model can fairly predict the acoustic characteristics of the developed concrete.