Sound insulation property of wood–waste tire rubber composite

The sound insulation property of wood/used tire rubber composite panel (WRCP) was investigated. A four-microphone method was used to measure the sound transmission losses of three different composite panels: WRCP, commercial compound wooden floorboard and commercial wood-based particleboard. The WRCP was manufactured in the lab with commercial urea–formaldehyde (UF) and polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (PMDI) adhesives. The test results indicated that sound insulation property of WRCP is better than that of commercial compound wooden floorboard and wood-based particleboard. In addition, the acoustic insulation of WRCP is significantly affected by the amount of rubber crumbs and PMDI adhesive used in the composite. An increase in the usage of recycled tire rubber crumbs and the dosage of PMDI adhesive significantly improve the soundproof property of the WRCP. Moreover, the microstructure of WRCP was examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The sound insulation effect is also dependant on the microstructure of the interface zone of wood/rubber and densification of WRCP. The continuous interfaces are formed in the presence of sufficient UF and PMDI adhesives resulted in better soundproof WRCP.