The Comparison of Sound Absorption of Kapok-Based Fiber Nonwoven Fabrics

As a natural fiber, kapok fiber has the high hollow degree that is very good for sound absorption. Four different kinds of kapok-based fiber nonwoven fabrics, made by kapok fiber mixing with hollow polyester, viscose fiber, PP fiber and cotton fiber respectively, were made and the sound absorption coefficients were measured in the frequency region of 100 - 6300 Hz by using a two-microphone transfer-function method. The comparisons of the sound absorption for four types of materials with similar thickness and densities with no air gap and with 1 cm, 3 cm air gap were made. The results indicate that the sound absorption of kapok/hollow polyester fiber nonwoven fabrics is superior to those of other three ones and kapok/hollow polyester fiber nonwoven fabrics can be used for sound-absorbing materials in engineering.