Identification of acoustic characteristic parameters and improvement of sound absorption performance for porous metal

Abstract

Porous metal is widely used in the fields of sound absorption and noise reduction, and it is a critical procedure to identify acoustic characteristic parameters and to improve sound absorption performances. Based on the constructed theoretical sound absorption model and experimental data, acoustic characteristic parameters of the porous metal were identified through the cuckoo search identification algorithm, and their reliabilities were certified through comparing with these labeled parameters and further experimental validation. By adding the microperforated metal panel in front of the porous metal, a composite sound-absorbing structure was formed, which aimed to improve the sound absorption performance of the original porous metal by optimizing the parameters. Finite element simulation and a standing wave tube measurement were conducted to validate the effectiveness and practicability of the optimal composite sound-absorbing structure. Consistencies among theoretical predictions, simulation results, and experimental data proved the effectiveness of the identification and optimization method. When the target frequency ranges were 100–1000 Hz, 100–2000 Hz, 100–3000 Hz, and 100–4000 Hz. Actual average sound absorption coefficients of the optimal composite structures were 0.5154, 0.6369, 0.6770, and 0.7378, respectively, which exhibited the obvious improvements with a tiny increase in the occupied space and a small addition in weight.