Applied Acoustics 74 (2013) 509–516

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Applied Acoustics
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apacoust

Extension of the frequency range of resonant sound absorbers using

two-degree-of-freedom Helmholtz-based resonators with a flexible panel
Akira Sanada a,⇑, Nobuo Tanaka b
a
Industrial Technology Center of Okayama Prefecture, 5301 Haga, Okayama-shi, Okayama 701-1296, Japan
b
Tokyo Metropolitan University, 6-6 Asahigaoka, Hino-shi, Tokyo 191-0065, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: To enhance the effect of a sound absorber having Helmholtz resonators in a wide frequency range, a
Received 17 August 2012 sound absorber with two-degree-of-freedom (two-DOF) Helmholtz-based resonators is proposed. The
Received in revised form 24 September 2012 resonator has a flexible panel installed in its cavity so that the panel can be vibrated by incident sound.
Accepted 30 September 2012
Thus, the resonator acts as a two-DOF system. The resonant frequency of the system consisting of the
Available online 5 December 2012
panel and back cavity is designed to tune to that of a conventional resonator system, splitting the absorp-
tion resonant peak into two. Moreover, by adjusting the dimensions, damping, and other characteristics
Keywords:
of the proposed resonator, the absorption coefficient can be improved. However, the effect of these
Resonator-type sound absorber
Helmholtz resonator
parameters is complicated; therefore, it is difficult to design a sound absorber with the appropriate char-
Two-DOF system acteristics. Hence, in this paper the fundamental characteristics of the proposed absorbers are investi-
Absorption coefficient gated. The absorption coefficient and specific acoustic impedance are derived analytically using
Sound-absorbing material dimensionless parameters. The effects of the parameters are examined, and a practical method of broad-
Biot parameter ening the frequency range of the effective sound absorption is discussed. Furthermore, a method in which
the absorbent material is installed into the back cavity is proposed in order to extend the frequency range
of the resonator-type sound absorber. Finally, experimental results are presented to confirm the validity
of the proposed resonator.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction absorber to suppress noise in a wide frequency range, the opening

A Helmholtz-resonator-type sound absorber has commonly
been used to suppress sound in the low- and medium-frequency
ranges. It has one absorption coefficient resonant peak because
the Helmholtz resonator is based on a one-degree-of-freedom
(one-DOF) system. Consequently, an absorber can typically be used
for sound of a specific frequency but not for noise in a wide fre-
quency range. Several methods are typically used to broaden the
effective frequency range of the absorber. For example, a resistive
material, such as a porous material, is inserted into a hole or a cav-
ity to add damping of the resonator system [1,2], which requires a
high opening ratio. However, in many cases, a resistive material
cannot be used because, in places where there is much dust, the
pores in the resistive material get clogged with the dust, which
prevents sound waves from entering through the holes of the
absorber. Another method of broadening the frequency range is a
combination of resonators with different resonant frequencies
[3]. However, if many such resonators are combined in one
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 86 286 9622; fax: +81 86 286 9630.
E-mail address: akira_sanada@pref.okayama.lg.jp (A. Sanada).
ratio to one resonator becomes small. Hence, in this case it is diffi-
cult to obtain high performance.
Dean [4] introduced a series-coupled resonator consisting of
two Helmholtz resonators in series to broaden the effective fre-
quency band of sound-absorbing liners for aircraft engines. The
series-coupled resonator constitutes a two-DOF system. In his
work, attenuation of the liner with the coupled resonators was pre-
dicted and measured to confirm the performance of the liner. How-
ever, if the coupled resonator is used as a sound absorber, it is
again necessary to adjust the damping at a hole using a resistive
material, as in a conventional resonator-type sound absorber, in or-
der to obtain an effect in a wide frequency range.
Therefore, in this study, a sound absorber consisting of Helm-
holtz-based resonators and a flexible panel is proposed. The flexi-
ble panel is installed in the resonator cavity so that it can be
vibrated by incident sound. Thus, the resonator acts as a two-
DOF system. The operational principle of the resonator relies upon
the frequency properties of the flexible panel, which makes it pos-
sible to broaden the effective frequency range of sound absorption.
The resonance frequency of the additional system consisting of the
panel and back cavity is designed to tune to that of a conventional

0003-682X/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2012.09.012
510 A. Sanada, N. Tanaka / Applied Acoustics 74 (2013) 509–516
resonator system, so the absorption coefficient resonant peak is
split into two. This implies that the proposed resonator can be
effective for sound including two frequencies. Thus, the absorption
of sound characterized by the resonant peaks becomes effective
over a wide frequency band.
However, it is difficult to design the proposed absorber with
appropriate properties because they are affected by many param-
eters, for example, hole radius, hole depth, cavity volume, and
opening ratio. Hence, this study investigates the fundamental char-
acteristics of sound absorbers having the proposed resonators and
considers a method of broadening their frequency range. First, a
mathematical model of the resonator that describes the resonator
system is presented. Next, the absorption coefficient and specific
acoustic impedance of the absorber are derived analytically using
dimensionless parameters. Then, the effects of the parameters
are examined. A method of broadening the frequency range of
the effective sound absorption is then discussed, and a practical
method of adding damping to the two-DOF resonator system by
installing a porous material into the back cavity is proposed. In this
case, even if a porous material is used, the clogging problem may
not occur because the back cavity is hermetically sealed. Finally,
experimental results are shown in order to confirm the validity
of the proposed sound absorber.
2. Theory
2.1. Theoretical model of a two-DOF resonator-type sound absorber
The proposed absorber is shown in Fig. 1. The resonator has a
flexible panel that divides the resonator cavity into two (Cavities
1 and 2). The flexible panel and Cavity 2 act as a one-DOF system.
Hence, we consider that the system consisting of the flexible panel
and Cavity 2 is added to the system of a conventional Helmholtz
resonator. Thus, the entire proposed resonator may constitute a
two-DOF system. In this paper, the system of the flexible panel
and Cavity 2 is termed the additional system.
Even if Cavity 2 is removed, the entire system can constitute a
two-DOF system similarly. However, without Cavity 2, sound
Fig. 1. Sound absorber with two-DOF Helmholtz-based resonators using a flexible
panel.
transmitted through the absorber would be problematic. Thus,
Cavity 2 is necessary in order to prevent sound transmission in
the backward direction.
In this section, the normal-incidence absorption coefficient of
the absorber having the proposed resonators is derived analytically
using the calculation model shown in Fig. 2. A plane sound wave
with amplitude pi and angular frequency x is assumed to be inci-
dent normally. In this study, the dimensions of the resonator’s
components, such as the pitch of the holes, hole radius, and cavity
dimensions, are assumed to be smaller than the wavelength. Under
this assumption, the wave reflected at the panel is considered a
plane wave, the wave inside the resonator also propagates as a
plane wave in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the pa-
nel, and the air in the hole acts as a mass. Because the sound field
in the resonator is considered to be one-dimensional, the sound
pressure at any section of the axis perpendicular to the surface of
the panel (the x axis) is assumed to be uniform, and the particle
velocity is obtained as the space-averaged velocity. For simplicity,
the cross section of the resonators is assumed to be circular.
On the basis of this condition, the equation of motion of the air
mass in the hole can be expressed as
2
d xh ðtÞ dxh ðtÞ
st0h q 2
þc ¼ p1 ejxt s  p10 ejxt s; ð1Þ
dt dt
where xh represents the displacement of the air mass in the hole, s is
the cross section of the hole, t0 h = th + d (where th is the depth of the
hole, and d is its open-end correction), q is the density of air, c is the
viscosity resistance at the hole surface; p1 is the pressure amplitude
at the surface of the absorber, and p10 is the pressure amplitude at
the cross section 10 . Here, d is expressed as
d ¼ de þ di ; ð2Þ
where de and di are the end corrections on the outside and inside of
the hole, respectively. They are expressed as [5]
8
de ¼ a; ð3Þ
3p
 a
di ¼ 0:48  s1=2 1  1:25 ; ð4Þ
R
where a denotes the radius of the hole, and R denotes the radius of
the cavity. In addition, p10 is expressed as
sv h
p10 ¼ Z 10  v 10 ¼ Z 10 ; ð5Þ
S
where v 10 denotes the space-averaged particle velocity amplitude at
the cross section 10 , vh is the vibration velocity amplitude of the air
in the hole, Z 10 is the specific acoustic impedance at the cross
Fig. 2. Theoretical model of sound absorber with the proposed resonator.
 A. Sanada, N. Tanaka / Applied Acoustics 74 (2013) 509–516 511

section 10 , and S is the cross-sectional area of the cavity. Assuming where C represents the sound speed; k is the wave number, and l2 is
harmonic excitation, from Eqs. (1) and (5) the acoustic impedance the depth of Cavity 2. Assuming the dimension of Cavity 2 is suffi-
of the hole is obtained as ciently smaller than the wavelength, Eq. (17) is rewritten as
p1 c s qC 2
zh ¼ ¼ jxqt0h þ þ Z 10 : ð6Þ Z 20 ¼ j ð18Þ
vh s S xl 2
:

Then, the specific acoustic impedance Z1 at the surface of the sound Hence, Eq. (13) is rewritten as
absorber can be expressed as
2  
SM 1 xf SM1 1
p S0 p1 1 c  1s Z2 ¼ g þj x  x22 ; ð19Þ
Z1 ¼ 1 ¼ ¼ þ jxqt 0h þ Z 0; ð7Þ B x B x
v 1 s v h e s eS 1
where x2 represents the natural angular frequency of the additional
where v 1 denotes the space-averaged particle velocity amplitude at
system consisting of the flexible panel and Cavity 2. This is obtained
cross section 1, and e denotes the opening ratio,
as
e ¼ s=S0 ; ð8Þ
qC 2 B
0
where S denotes the panel area per hole. x22 ¼ þ x2f ; ð20Þ
l2 SM1
Next, the equation of motion of the flexible panel can be
expressed as where xf denotes the natural frequency of the flexible panel, which
is determined using
@ 2 xp ðr; tÞ
D0 r4 xp ðr; tÞ þ qs h ¼ p2 ejxt  p20 ejxt ; ð9Þ K 1 =M1 ¼ ð1 þ jgÞx2f : ð21Þ
@t 2
where xp represents the displacement, r is an arbitrary position on The relationship between the specific impedances at cross sec-
the panel, qs is the density of the panel, h is its thickness, D0 tions 10 and 2 is expressed as
[=D(1 + jg)] represents the bending rigidity including the internal Z 2 cos kl1 þ jqC sin kl1
damping (g: loss factor), p2 is the pressure amplitude at cross Z 10 ¼ qC ; ð22Þ
j Z 2 sin kl1 þ qC cos kl1
section 2, and p20 is the pressure amplitude at cross section 20 .
In this paper, only the first vibration mode is considered where l1 denotes the depth of Cavity 1. Assuming the dimension of
because the target frequency range is assumed to be dominated Cavity 1 is sufficiently smaller than the wavelength, kl1 is small.
by the first mode. Thus, the vibration velocity amplitude of the Then, Eq. (21) is rewritten as
flexible panel is expressed as
Z 2 þ jxql1
Z 10 ¼ : ð23Þ
v p ðrÞ ¼ w1 ðrÞ  v p1 ; ð10Þ j qlC1 2 xZ 2 þ 1
where w1 denotes the first mode shape function, and vp1 denotes
Finally, from Eqs. (7), (19), and (23), the specific acoustic imped-
the first mode velocity amplitude. When the edge of the flexible
ance at the surface of the absorber is given as
panel is clamped, for example, the first mode shape function is
2 n  o3
expressed as 2 Ma1 2 2
    1 4c m 1 K gxf þ j 1 þ Me1 x  x2 5
k0 k0 Z1 ¼ þj x ; ð24Þ
w1 ðrÞ ¼ J 0 ðk0 Þ  I0 r  I0 ðk0 Þ  J 0 r ; ð11Þ e s s s x x2  x2  S22 K  jgx2
2 s Me1 f
R R
where J0 is the Bessel function of the first kind, I0 is the modified where m represents the mass of the air in the hole, K is the stiffness
Bessel function of the first kind, k0 = 3.19622, r is radial distance of the air in Cavity 1, Me1 is the mass of the flexible panel, and Ma1 is
of the flexible panel. The radius of the flexible panel is the same the mass of the air in Cavity 1. These quantities are expressed as
as that of the cavity (R). The space-averaged vibration velocity m ¼ sqt 0h ; ð25Þ
amplitude of the flexible panel can be written as 2 2
qC s
R R K¼ ; ð26Þ
v ðrÞds
S p
w ðrÞds l1 S
v p ¼ ¼ S 1 v p1 : ð12Þ
S S S2 M 1
Me1 ¼ ; ð27Þ
Then, from Eqs. (9), (10), and (12), the specific acoustic imped- B
ance at cross section 2 is written as Ma1 ¼ ql1 S: ð28Þ
  The absorbed sound power in the absorber is expressed as
p2 S 1
Z2 ¼ ¼ K 1 þ jxM 1 þ Z 2 0 ; ð13Þ
v p B jx Z re 2Z re
W ab ¼ jv 1 j2 ¼ jpi j2 ; ð29Þ
where Z 20 denotes the specific acoustic impedance at cross section
2 jqC þ Z re þ j Z im j2
20 . Further, where Zre and Zim denote the real and imaginary parts of Z1, respec-
Z tively. The incident sound power is Wi = |pi|2/(2qC). Thus, the
K1 ¼ D0 w1  r4 w1 ds; ð14Þ absorption coefficient is expressed as
ZS
W ab 4qCZ re
M1 ¼ qs hw21 ds; ð15Þ a¼ ¼ : ð30Þ
S Wi ðZ re þ qCÞ2 þ Z 2im
Z 2
B¼ w1 ds : ð16Þ Fig. 3 shows the calculated normal-incidence absorption
S coefficient of the absorbers, the specifications of which are shown
The specific acoustic impedance at cross section 20 is given as in Table 1. Absorbers A and B have conventional resonators that
constitute a one-DOF system. A0 and B0 have the proposed
cos kl2 resonators, which constitute a two-DOF system. In the calculations,
Z 20 ¼ jqC ; ð17Þ
sin kl2 the edge of the flexible panel is assumed to be clamped. The
512 A. Sanada, N. Tanaka / Applied Acoustics 74 (2013) 509–516

of the proposed absorber are investigated using dimensionless

parameters, as in a dynamic vibration absorber.
Here, the dimensionless parameters are defined as
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
H ¼ c=C c : damping ratio, where C c ¼ 2 mK is the critical
damping,
b ¼ S=S0 : ratio of the cavity cross section to the panel area,
l ¼ m=Me1 : mass ratio of the air in the hole to the flexible panel,
n ¼ M a1 =m: mass ratio of the air in Cavity 1 to the air in the hole,
k ¼ x=x1 : frequency normalized topthe ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffinatural frequency of
the Helmholtz resonator, x1 (x1 ¼ K=m),
c ¼ x2 =x1 : natural frequency ratio of the additional system to
the Helmholtz resonator, and
m ¼ l2 =ðl1 þ l2 Þ: ratio of the depth of Cavity 2 to that of the entire
absorber.
Fig. 3. Calculated normal-incidence sound absorption coefficient.

These parameters are chosen by using the analogy of the dy-

namic vibration absorber [8]. Using these dimensionless parame-
Table 1
Specifications and dimensionless parameters of the absorbers. ters, the normalized specific acoustic impedance is written as

Absorber A A0 B B0 Z1 1
¼ pffiffiffi
a 4 mm 4 mm 7.5 mm 7.5 mm qC e n
" #
th 2 mm 2 mm 2 mm 2 mm
1 2 gfc2  lðb=eÞ2 1m mg þ jfð1 þ lnÞk2  c2 g
R 40 mm 40 mm 40 mm 40 mm  2Hk þ jk  2 :
h 15 mm 15 mm 30 mm 30 mm k k  c2  lðb=eÞ2  jgfc2  lðb=eÞ2 1mg m
h Non 0.930 mm Non 1.023 mm
h Non 20 mm Non 20 mm
ð32Þ
S’ 80  80 mm 80  80 mm 80  80 mm 80  80 mm
In practice, these parameters cannot be established indepen-
f1(=x1/2p) 482.8 Hz 482.8 Hz 508.9 Hz 508.9 Hz
f2(=x2/2p) 482.8 Hz 508.9 Hz
dently. For example, if the hole radius is changed, H, l, n, and k will
c 2.84E04 2.84E04 3.33E04 3.33E04 also change. However, these are the fundamental elements that
e 7.854E03 7.854E03 2.761E02 2.761E02 determine the characteristics of the absorbers. Thus, the effects
g 2.000E02 2.000E02 of these parameters on the proposed resonators are examined.
H 7.595E02 7.595E02 1.821E02 1.821E02
First, the natural frequency of the proposed resonator is dis-
b 7.854E01 7.854E01 7.854E01 7.854E01
l 4.373E05 2.210E04 cussed. If the viscosity resistance at the hole surface can be ig-
n 1.791E+02 6.440E+01 nored, the specific impedance would be derived as
c 1.000E+00 1.000E+00 ( )
m 5.714E01 4.000E01 Z1 1 1 ð1 þ lnÞk2  c2
¼ j pffiffiffi k  : ð33Þ
qC e n k k2  c2  lðb=eÞ2

When resonance occurs, Z1 would be 0. Then, the natural fre-

material of the flexible panel is assumed to be vinyl chloride. Its
quencies of the resonator are obtained as
properties were measured with the center impedance method
vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
[6,7] using a beam specimen. The measured results are as follows: u
u 2
density: qs = 1.339E3 kg/m3, Young’s modulus: 2.41E9 Pa, Poisson’s t1 þ c þ G  l  ð1 þ c02 þ G  lÞ  4c2
2
k1 ¼ ; ð34Þ
ratio: 0.38, loss factor: g = 0.02. The viscosity resistance at the hole 2
surface was obtained by measuring the surface impedance of a vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
u
u 2
conventional Helmholtz resonator with the same radius and open- t1 þ c2 þ G  l þ ð1 þ c2 þ G  lÞ  4c2
ing ratio as the proposed absorber. It can be estimated as k2 ¼ ; ð35Þ
2
c ¼ seZ R ; ð31Þ where

where ZR is the real part of the surface impedance of the resonator,
which can be measured by an impedance measurement tube.
The natural frequencies of A and B are similar, but their opening
ratios differ. That of A is 0.79%, and that of B is 2.76%. The figure
shows that A0 and B0 have two sound absorption coefficient reso-
nant peaks because these absorbers have two-DOF resonators.
Thus, the proposed resonator can be effective for sound including
two frequencies.
2.2. Fundamental characteristics of the proposed absorber
The characteristics of the proposed sound absorber are affected
by many parameters, e.g., hole radius, hole depth, cavity volume,
plate stiffness, plate damping, opening ratio of the perforated pa-
nel. Hence, it is difficult to simply state the effects of these param-
eters because they are too complicated. This is a problem in
designing the absorber. Therefore, the fundamental characteristics
G ¼ ðb=eÞ2 þ n: ð36Þ
Eqs. (34) and (35) show that the natural frequency of the reso-
nator depends on l, c, and G. Fig. 4 shows the variation in the nat-
ural frequencies with l and G when c = 1. The difference between
the two natural frequencies is widened when l is close to 1, which
implies that the mass of the air in the hole is close to that of the
flexible panel. That is the same phenomenon as in a dynamic
vibration absorber. When G is large, the difference between the
two natural frequencies is also wide.
Next, the absorption coefficients of the absorber are discussed
using these dimensionless parameters. First, we consider the case
of absorber A0 , which has a comparatively small opening ratio (e)
(0.79%). The values of the dimensionless parameters for absorbers
A0 and B0 are given in Table 1. Fig. 5 shows the calculated results of
the normal-incidence sound absorption coefficient. This figure
demonstrates the effect of the loss factor of the flexible panel g.
Here, g is varied from 0.02 to 0.8, and the other parameters are
 A. Sanada, N. Tanaka / Applied Acoustics 74 (2013) 509–516
Fig. 4. Variation in natural frequencies of the proposed resonators with l and G
when c = 1.
Fig. 5. Variation in normal-incidence sound absorption coefficient with g for a
small opening ratio (e = 0.79%).
Fig. 6. Variation in normal-incidence sound absorption coefficient with H.
fixed at the same values as those of absorber A0 . When the damping
is large, the valley of the absorption coefficient curve between the
two peaks is improved. Hence, the absorber becomes effective over
a wide frequency band. However, in this case, the absorption coef-
ficient at the peaks decreases as the damping of the flexible panel
increases.
Fig. 6 shows the effect of the damping ratio on the viscosity in
the hole. Because the viscosity is large, the Q factor of each peak
decreases. Hence, the effective frequency band is widened for each
absorption peak, but the valley between the two peaks is not im-
proved, and the peak value decreases. It becomes clear that the
513
Fig. 7. Variation in normal-incidence sound absorption coefficient with l.
Fig. 8. Variation in normal-incidence sound absorption coefficient with b.
Fig. 9. Variation in normal-incidence sound absorption coefficient with n.
internal damping of the flexible panel and the viscosity damping
in the hole have different effects on the sound absorption. To adjust
the viscosity in the hole, a resistive material, such as metal mesh or
porous material, must be used.
Figs. 7 and 8 show the effects of l and b, respectively. As Fig. 4
indicates, the frequency width between the two peaks widens
when l or b is large. This indicates that it is necessary to enlarge
l and b in order to widen the effective frequency band.
The absorption coefficient at the peaks increases when n
becomes large, as shown in Fig. 9, and the peak frequency changes
with c, as shown in Fig. 10. If the natural frequency of the
additional system is tuned to a frequency below the resonance
frequency of the Helmholtz resonator, the effective frequency can
be shifted to a lower frequency range.
514 A. Sanada, N. Tanaka / Applied Acoustics 74 (2013) 509–516
Fig. 10. Variation in normal-incidence sound absorption coefficient with c.
Fig. 11. Variation in normal-incidence sound absorption coefficient with g when
the opening ratio is large (e = 2.76%).
Fig. 12. Calculated normal-incidence sound absorption coefficient of the absorber
when the sound-absorbing material is inserted into Cavity 2 (solid line: absorber B0 ,
dotted line: th = 0.5 mm, dashed-dotted line: th = 0.5 mm and recycled felt is
inserted into Cavity 2, dashed-two-dotted line: th = 0.5 mm and recycled urethane
is inserted into Cavity 2, faint line: conventional resonator-type absorber having a
cavity depth of 50 mm).
Next, we consider the case of absorber B0 , which has a compar-
atively large opening ratio (2.76%). Fig. 11 shows the effect of the
loss factor of the flexible panel g. As Fig. 5 indicates, when the
damping is large, the valley of the absorption coefficient curve be-
tween the two peaks is improved. Furthermore, the absorption
coefficient at the peaks increases as the damping of the flexible pa-
nel increases in this case. However, the frequency width between
the two peaks is narrower than that in Fig. 5. From Eq. (36), when
e is large, G is small. Then, the frequency width between the two
peaks becomes narrow. The tendency of changes with the other
parameters is similar to those in Figs. 5–10.
2.3. Broadening the frequency range
To broaden the effective frequency range of the absorber with
the proposed resonator, the frequency width between the two
peaks must be widened, and the valley of the absorption coefficient
curve between the two peaks must be improved. The preceding
section showed that the following things are required in order to
broaden the frequency range of the absorber. (i) The flexible panel
should be lightweight in order to bring the mass ratio of the air in
the hole to the flexible panel (l) close to 1. (ii) The opening ratio (e)
should be large, and the loss factor of the flexible panel (g) should
be as large as possible.
To make the flexible panel light, it has to be thin or the density
has to be low. However, when the panel is light, it is practically dif-
ficult to add damping to it. Hence, these two requirements may not
be satisfied simultaneously. Thus, we propose a method of insert-
ing a sound-absorbing material, such as a porous material, into
Cavity 2 in order to add damping to the additional system consist-
ing of the panel and Cavity 2. In this case, even if a sound-absorb-
ing material is used, the clogging problem may not occur because
Cavity 2 is hermetically sealed.
When Cavity 2 is filled with the absorbent material, the sound
pressure in it can be expressed as
pm ðx; tÞ ¼ pmþ ejðxtkm xÞ þ pm ejðxtþkm xÞ ; ð37Þ
where pm+ represents the pressure amplitude of the wave propagat-
ing in the +x direction, pm is the pressure amplitude of the wave
propagating in the x direction, and km is the wave number in
the sound-absorbing material. The particle velocity in Cavity 2 is ex-
pressed as
pmþ jðxtkm xÞ pm jðxtþkm xÞ
v m ðx; tÞ ¼ e  e ; ð38Þ
Zm Zm
where Zm denotes the characteristic impedance of the sound-
absorbing material.
Because the back wall of Cavity 2 is rigid, vm is zero at x = l1 + l2.
Hence, from Eq. (38),
pmþ ejkm ðl1 þl2 Þ
¼ jk ðl þl Þ : ð39Þ
pm e m 1 2
Then, the specific impedance at cross section 20 is derived as
p20 ejkm l2 þ ejkm l2
Z 20 ¼ ¼ Zm : ð40Þ
v20 ejkm l2  ejkm l2
The sound absorption coefficient can be calculated by using Eq.
(40) instead of Eq. (18).
Fig. 12 shows the effect of inserting the sound-absorbing mate-
rial into Cavity 2. The solid line represents the absorption coeffi-
cient for absorber B0 for reference. The dotted line indicates the
result when the panel thickness of absorber B0 is changed to
0.5 mm. The dashed-dotted and dashed-two-dotted lines show
the results for the same panel thickness when recycled felt and
recycled urethane foam, respectively are inserted into Cavity 2 as
the sound-absorbing material. In addition, the faint line indicates
the result for a conventional resonator having a cavity depth of
50 mm, which is the sum of the depths of Cavities 1 and 2. The
materials that are assumed to be used in the simulation are
commonly used for noise control. Their characteristic impedances
and wave numbers were calculated using the Johnson–Champoux–
Allard model [9] and the Biot parameters of these materials, which
are listed in Table 2. These parameters are the measured values
 A. Sanada, N. Tanaka / Applied Acoustics 74 (2013) 509–516 515

Table 2 Table 3
Biot parameters of the sound-absorbing materials used in the calculation. Specification and the dimensionless parameters of the tested absorbers, which were
used in the experiments.
Material Recycled felt Recycled urethane foam
Specification Dimensionless parameters
Porosity 0.965 0.877
Bulk density (kg/m3) 49.88 177.74 a 7.5 mm e 2.250E02
Flow resistivity (Ns/m4) 22523 182659 th 2 mm g 2.000E02
Tortuosity 1.07 1.91 R 40 mm H 1.821E02
Viscous length (lm) 79.3 9.5 I1 30 mm b 6.400E01
Thermal length (lm) 146.2 121.2 h 0.5 mm l 4.530E04
I2 20 mm n 6.440E+01
S0 0.052  p m2 c 8.510E01
f1(=x1/2p) 508.9 Hz m 4.000E01
f2(=x2/2p) 433.0 Hz
obtained by porous material characterization equipment: a poros- c 3.33E04

ity meter, static air flow resistivity meter, and tortuosity meter
(Mecanum Inc.). The characteristic lengths were estimated using
the measured normal incidence absorption coefficient and acoustic
property identification software with an inverse algorithm (ESI:
Foam-X). When the panel is made thin, the width between the
two peaks increases because l becomes large. The peak frequency
of the lower resonance is lower than that for the conventional res-
onator having a cavity depth of 50 mm. This indicates that the pro-
posed absorber can target a lower frequency range than the
conventional resonator-type absorber. When the absorbing mate-
rial is inserted into Cavity 2, the absorption coefficient become
large, and the effective frequency range becomes broad. Moreover,
the absorption coefficient between the two peaks when the recy-
cled urethane foam is used is larger than that when the recycled
felt is used. This implies that it may be possible to obtain higher
performance if the optimal material can be chosen. These simula-
tion results suggest that the absorber employing the proposed res-
onator is effective for extending the frequency range of the
resonator-type sound absorber.
3. Experiment
To verify the validity of the proposed method, an experiment
was performed using the setup shown in Fig. 13. An impedance
measurement tube (B&K 4206) was used to measure the normal-
incidence absorption coefficient. The measurement was based on
the two-microphone transfer function method [10]. A resonator
was installed at the end of the measurement tube. Although the
absorption coefficient of a single resonator was measured, the
measured result can be considered to correspond to that for an
absorber having the same opening ratio. The dimensions of the
resonator are shown in Fig. 13 and Table 3. A 0.5-mm-thick vinyl
chloride panel was used as flexible panel. The edge of the panel
was clamped to the wall of the cavity. Hence, it is considered that
the first mode shape function of the flexible panel in this experi-
ment can also be expressed as Eq. (11).
The dimensionless parameters of the resonator are also shown
in Table 3. Recycled urethane foam was used as the sound-absorb-
ing material, as in the simulation in the previous section. The mate-
rial was inserted so as to avoid contact between the material
surface and the flexible panel. Thus, the vibration of the panel
was not directly affected by the material.
Fig. 14 shows the calculated and measured normal-incidence
absorption coefficients. The solid and dotted lines indicate the
measured and calculated results, respectively, when the sound-
absorbing material was inserted in Cavity 2. The faint solid and
dotted lines indicate the measured and calculated results, respec-
tively, without the sound-absorbing material. In the calculation,
the open-end correction d is calculated using the following
equation to account for the experimental conditions.
 
a
de ¼ 0:48  s1=2 1  1:25 0 ; ð41Þ
R
where R0 denotes the radius of the measurement tube.
The calculated and measured results are in good agreement
overall, suggesting that the calculation model is appropriate. When
the absorbing material is inserted into Cavity 2, the absorption
coefficient became large, and the valley between the two peaks
was improved. Finally, it is confirmed experimentally that this
method is effective for broadening the frequency range of the
Helmholtz-resonator-type sound absorber.

Fig. 13. Experimental setup.

516 A. Sanada, N. Tanaka / Applied Acoustics 74 (2013) 509–516
Fig. 14. Experimental and calculated results of normal-incidence sound absorption
coefficient (solid line: experimental result using the recycled urethane foam in
Cavity 2, dashed line: calculated result using the recycled urethane foam in Cavity 2,
faint solid line: experimental result without the sound-absorbing material, faint
dashed line: calculated result without the sound-absorbing material.
4. Conclusion
This study investigated the fundamental characteristics of a
Helmholtz-resonator-type sound absorber with a flexible panel
and considered a method of broadening its frequency range. First,
the absorption coefficient and specific acoustic impedance of the
absorber with the resonator were derived analytically using
dimensionless parameters that determine the fundamental charac-
teristics of the absorber. The effects of these parameters were
examined. The results showed that to broaden the effective fre-
quency range of the absorber, the flexible panel must be light-
weight, and the opening ratio and internal damping must be
large. Then, a method in which a sound-absorbing material is in-
serted into the back cavity was proposed, and the absorption coef-
ficient was derived analytically. Finally, an experiment was
presented to demonstrate the validity of the proposed absorber.
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