Optimization of sound absorbing material by using Taguchi and ANOVA

Abstract

At present, target on eco-friendly acoustic material is decorated to diminish impact on environment due to adoption of synthetic material in acoustic application. In this paper, Taguchi method is enforced to find optimum parameters for sound absorbing coefficient of coconut fiber-based sound absorbing material. The influence of the various process parameters, i.e. Thickness, density, air gap and fiber percentage (%) on sound absorption coefficient (SAC) was studied. The settings of the parameters were determined by using Taguchi’s experimental design method. Orthogonal arrays (L25) of Taguchi, the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, the analysis of variance (ANOVA), and regression analyses were employed to find the optimal process parameter levels and to analyze the effect of these parameters on sound absorption coefficient values. Confirmation test with the optimal levels of parameters was carried out in order to illustrate the effectiveness of the Taguchi optimization method. Optimum parameters were found by using Taguchi method are which have 50 mm thickness, 0.0002539 g/mm3 density, 70% fiber percentage and 0 mm air gap. Also significant parameters are found which are thickness and density having p-value less than 0.05 and followed by fiber percentage and air gap. By using optimum parameters sound absorption coefficient is increased to 0.98 at frequency 2800–3500 Hz.