Utilization and Study of Raw Groundnut Shell as a Source of Sound Absorbing Material

Abstract

Natural biodegradable materials have the potential of an alternative traditional sound-absorbing material. These materials have the advantages of low cost, light in weight, easily available, eco-friendly, and nonpolluting. Groundnut shell is a cover of the peanuts and considered an agriculture waste material that can be used in the field of noise control. This study highlights the possibility of the groundnut shell material as a sound absorption material by evaluating the acoustical properties like Air Flow Resistivity (AFR) and Sound Absorption Coefficient (SAC). Three different samples made of groundnut shell with thicknesses 10, 20, and 30 mm have been considered for the analysis. The effect of thickness and the air gap of the different samples on the acoustics parameters have been discussed. The experimental results show that the AFR decreases with increasing thickness of the sample material while a sound absorption coefficient (SAC) is found higher values at medium and high frequency (from 1000 to 4000 Hz). This study will be useful for the development of new sound absorbing material.

Keywords

• acoustic absorption
• air flow resistivity (afr)
• groundnut shell
• natural fiber
• sound absorption coefficient (sac)