Absorption Characteristics of Suspended Absorbers

The question of the arrangement of sound absorbers has been under study for some time. In our approach we conducted a sequence of experiments in a reverberation chamber to determine the optimal sound absorption for different configurations of suspended absorbers using various air spaces and a central dividing panel between them. The results obtained were compared with measurements of the panels, tested against a solid backing as specified in ISO-R-354. It is shown that a porous absorber is more efficient at high frequencies if it is suspended in the sound field rather than against a solid backing. It was also found that the efficiency of an air space between the two porous sheets that compose a suspended absorber is moderately increased when a central divider is used. The statistical precision of the test was also investigated.