Applied Acoustics 173 (2021) 107677

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

Impact of fiber length and surface modification on the acoustic

behaviour of jute fiber
Senthilrajan Sambandamoorthy a, Venkateshwaran Narayanan b,⇑, Lenin Babu Mailan Chinnapandi c,d,
Alavudeen Aziz e
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, A.V.C. College of Engineering, Mayiladuthurai, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai, India
c
Electric Vehicles Incubation and Testing Division, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai 600127, India
d
School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai 600127, India
e
School of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Tamilnadu, India

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

Article history: The use of plant fibers for acoustic applications in the industrial sector is increasing nowadays due to:
Received 24 May 2020 their porous nature, hollow lumen structure, and the presence of Nano-fibrils. The current investigation
Received in revised form 11 September aims to analyze the influence of jute fiber length and various chemical treatments on the sound absorp-
2020
tion property. The sound absorption coefficient was measured by the Impedance tube method. From the
Accepted 16 September 2020
results, it was found that 20 mm fiber length has the uppermost sound absorption coefficient at all fre-
quencies, due to the increase in the number of air cavities and nanofibrils. Further, the 20 mm length fiber
was surface modified by NaOH, NaHCO3 and Cr2SO4 respectively and the sound absorption coefficient of
Keywords:
Sound absorption coefficient
the surface modified fibers was analyzed. The result showed that among the various chemical treatments,
Jute fiber alkali treated fiber has the maximum sound absorption coefficient than the other treated fibers. The SEM
Lumen images revealed that the chemical modification causes changes in the morphology of fibers. In addition,
Acoustic the comparative study of the experimental and theoretical sound absorption coefficient showed good
Alkali treatment agreement between them.
Impedance tube Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction conditions. It causes human health problems, i.e. Cardiac disease,

In recent years, there has been growing interest in the use of
plant fibers to produce machine parts due to their low density,
low cost, good specific strength, high toughness, reduced respira-
tory irritation and less dermal effect and importantly porosity,
apart from their ecofriendly and biodegradable characteristics
[1]. Now- a- days noise pollution is a serious matter in the automo-
tive industries and overcoming this problem is an important chal-
lenge. To reduce the noise pollution, concentration was made on
the absorption and insulation material that prevents the sound
wave when incident on it through reflection [2]. The amount of
acoustic energy dissipated is measured as the sound absorption
coefficient and that is a dimensionless number. Its value is in the
range of 0 to 1 [3]. Most of the Mechanical systems, home appli-
ances, industrial machines, Electric motors, Air craft and Automo-
tive vehicles produce noise and vibration under working
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: venkateshwaran.n@rajalakshmi.edu.in (V. Narayanan), lenin.
babu@vit.ac.in (L.B.M. Chinnapandi).
annoyance, fear, dizziness, Hearing Problem, Mental stress etc.
[4]. Hence, the sources of noise and vibration should be identified
and reduced by using isolators, enclosure, sound absorbing mate-
rial, etc. [5,6]. Sound absorbing materials receive the sound energy
and reduce the frequency, and for this purpose, porous types of
materials are widely employed. These materials have cavities,
channels which are used to pass the sound wave through them
and its effectiveness was determined by the absorption coefficient
[7]. Currently the research is focused on using natural fibers as
sound absorbing material because of the porous nature of the
fibers [8]. Some of the plant fibers like kenaf, hemp and coir are
already being used for acoustic purposes as they possess excellent
sound absorption efficiency, better shatter resistance and better
energy management characteristics than synthetic fibers [9].
D’Alessandro and Pispola [10] analyzed the sound absorption
properties of kenaf fiber by a reverberant room test and showed
that kenaf fiber has an absorption coefficient equal to 0.85 in the
frequency range of 500–5000 Hz. Lim et al. [11] studied kenaf fiber
and showed that the sound absorption property of kenaf fibers was
0.8 at 1.5 kHz frequency. Hosseini Fouladi et al. [12] studied the

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2020.107677
0003-682X/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Sambandamoorthy, V. Narayanan, Lenin Babu Mailan Chinnapandi et al. Applied Acoustics 173 (2021) 107677

acoustic behavior of coir fiber of 20 mm, 30 mm and 45 mm thick- 2. Materials and methods
ness. The experimental results showed that the coir fiber has a
sound absorption coefficient of 0.7. Hajj N EI et al. [13] discussed 2.1. Preparation of jute fiber sample
the influence of tow size on the acoustic behavior of Flax fibers
and concluded that the finer the flax tow, the better the sound The jute fibers of four different lengths, 5 mm, 10 mm, 15 mm
absorption behavior. Meriç et al. [14] studied felt fiber for acoustic and 20 mm taken for initial investigation were purchased from the
behavior and showed that it has better acoustic performance at the National Jute Board, Chennai, India and are placed in the sample
middle frequency range than at the higher one. The non-woven holder as shown in Fig. 1(d). After observing the primary test
polypropylene material as sound absorption material was studied results, the fibers are treated with 1% sodium hydroxide (NaOH),
by Soltani et al. [15] and they found that the Mechel model pre- 1% sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) and 1% chromium sulphate (Cr2-
dicted closer to the experimental than Denlay and Bazley. The SO4) solutions respectively. All the samples are prepared with two
investigation of pineapple leaf fiber and waste paddy fiber by Putra diameters, 100 mm and 33 mm. The various samples and the sym-
A et al. [16,18,22] showed that they have good acoustic properties, bols used are tabulated in Table 1
whereas for sugar cane waste fiber the average absorption coeffi-
cient is 0.65 in the range of 1.2–4.5 kHz. Leitao et al. [17] suggested
2.2. Experimental setup for impedance tube
that due to the presence of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin, the
plant fibers have better sound absorption performance. The use of
For the sound absorption study, four sets of samples were pre-
oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber as sound absorption material was
pared having diameters of 100 mm and 33 mm according to ASTM
tried out by Khai et al. [19] and found that the OPEFB has the
standard in the frequency range of 800 Hz to 6500 Hz. The samples
absorption coefficient of 0.9 at 1 kHz frequency. After research
were placed inside the holder at the right end of the tube and at the
on the acoustic behavior of olive tree pruning wastes, Martellottaa
other end mounted with a speaker. Two ½” Microtech Gefell
[20] claimed that the absorption coefficient is 0.9 at above 1 KHz
microphones were used to obtain the pressure from two specific
for a 50 mm sample. Sezgin et al. [21] reported that the 10 mm
locations nearer to the samples as per the ASTM E1050 standard.
thick Tea Leaf Fiber has better sound absorption properties than
Then the sound absorption coefficient is calculated using the trans-
fibers with other thicknesses. Koizumi et al’s [23] study on acoustic
fer function with MATLAB software. The experimental set up and
analysis showed that the sound absorption of bamboo fiber was
test samples are shown in Fig. 1. The noise level in the experiments
0.95 in the frequency range of 1000 to 2000 Hz and is similar to
are kept well below the standard level by using the 1/3 fractional
glass wool. Lamyaa et al. [24] investigated the acoustic character-
octave band. The sound absorption measurements are carried out
istics of Date Palm Fibre (DPF) and Coconut Coir Fibre (CCF). The
with normal incidence throughout for all the samples.
result shows that the date palm fiber and coconut coir fiber have
better acoustic properties at low and high frequencies. It was Fur-
ther observed that the coefficient of performance was increased at 2.3. Theory of sound absorption
all frequencies with an increase in the thickness of the sample. The
acoustics and mechanical behavior of Poly lactic acid with ramie The theoretical concept of predicting the sound absorption by
fabrics was observed by Nanting et al. [25] that they have a poor Zwikker and Kosten [44] is widely used. The coefficient of sound
sound absorption coefficient of 0.2 from 1000 to 2500 Hz fre- absorption (a) is defined as the ratio of sound power absorbed
quency. The sound absorption behavior of porous materials, such by the surface to the sound power incident on the surface and cal-
as glass wool, and melamine foam was studied by Manish Raj culated using (1), (2) and (3).
et al. [26,27] and it was found that the 30 mm thick melamine
foam and 100 mm thick glass wool displayed better results. Fur- Sa Si  Sr  St
a¼ ¼ ð1Þ
ther, the same authors revealed that the Denim shoddy and waste Si Si
jute fibers have better noise control, cost effectiveness and envi-
where
ronmental impact. The underwater sound absorption behavior of
metamaterials was investigated by Kangkang [28], who showed
that with an increase in the thickness of the metamaterial the
a – Coefficient of sound absorption
Sa is the amount of sound energy absorbed,
sound absorption also increases. Arjunana et al.’s [29,30] study
Si, is the total amount of sound energy incident
revealed that in the 3D printed Nylon the wave guide tortuosity
Sr is the amount of sound energy reflected and
diameter and length influence the HQA waveguides which made
St is the transmitted sound energy.
them to be used as an absorptive panel in building walls. Further,
another work of theirs revealed that the free form geometries pos-
The following formulas represent the absorption by the surface
sess good efficiency in sound absorbing devices.
and impedance characteristics Z, and Z0 ,The Propagation constant
From the above literatures, most of the research work carried
out analyzed the sound absorption property as the influence of nat-
c , Density of air q0 ,thickness of the specimen l and velocity of air
C0
ural fibers’ sample thickness. Further, it is also found that the nat-
ural fibers are good sources of acoustic material. The goal of this a ¼ z0 cot hðclÞ ð2Þ
study is to analyse the effect of the fiber length and surface modi-
fication of the jute fibers on the sound absorption coefficient.
Z  q0C0
According to the author’s knowledge this study has not been a¼1j ð3Þ
addressed or is rarely discussed by other researchers. Hence, in this Z þ q0C0
novel work, the jute fibers were chosen and tested for the sound These terms are used to estimate the specific acoustic impe-
absorption coefficient and the influence of fiber length and various dance ratio.
chemical treatments by the impedance tube technique. In addition The parameters required for the theoretical calculation are
to the experimental work, the observed sound absorption coeffi- given in Table 2. The theoretical models: Delany-Bazley Model
cients are compared with the theoretical models, namely: the and Garai-Pompoli Model are employed to predict the acoustic
Delany-Bazley Model and Garai-Pompoli Model. behavior and are given in (4), (5), (6) and (7) [39].

2
S. Sambandamoorthy, V. Narayanan, Lenin Babu Mailan Chinnapandi et al. Applied Acoustics 173 (2021) 107677

Fig. 1. Experimental setup and other accessories of Impedance tube Method (a) Experimental Set up (b) 8 Channel M + P (c) Two 1/2 in. microphone (d) Sample holder with
fiber.

0:7

Table 1 x q0f q0f 0:595
Kc ¼ d1 þ 0:0978  j0:189 e ð5Þ
Various type of jute fiber samples and their symbols.
C r r
S. No Samples Symbols used
Garai – Pompoli model
1 5 mm Fiber Length JFL1
2 10 mm Fiber Length JFL 2
0:623

q0f q0f 0:660
3 15 mm Fiber Length JFL 3 Zc ¼ q0Cd1 þ 0:078  j0:074 e ð6Þ
4 20 mm Fiber Length JFL4 r r
5 NaOH treated Fiber ST1
6 NaHCO3 treated Fiber ST2


7 Cr2SO4 treated Fiber ST3 q0f 0:53 q0f 0:571
Kc ¼ q0Cd1 þ 0:121  j0:159 e ð7Þ
r r
Table 2 where
Various parameters used for Theoretical calculation of jute fiber.

Fiber Diameter (mm) Fiber Bulk Density (g/cm3) Flow resistivity (Pa s/m2) q0 = Air Density = 1.225 kg/m3
ZC = Complex Acoustic Impedance,
50–60 1.3 10,000
KC = Propagation Constant,
Speed of air media C = 348 m/s
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
f = frequency x = 2pf, j = 1 and
2.4. Air flow resistivity (r)
r = Air flow resistivity (Pa-s/m2)
The flow resistivity of jute fiber (JFL4) was measured in accor-
dance with ASTMC522 standard with five samples and the results 2.5. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis
were averaged. The measurements of the pressure difference are
maintained between 0.1 Pa and 250 Pa. From this Air flow Appara- The FTIR analysis of treated and untreated fibers was done using
tus the specific airflow resistivity can be measured in the range of JASCO 6300 type A infrared spectrometer having the spectral range
100 to 10000 Pa-s/m2. of 400 cm1 to 4000 cm1 with a scanning speed of 2 mm/sec. The
Delany-Bazley model spectral waves are recorded in the transmittance mode as a func-

 tion of the wave number. The main purpose of this test is to iden-
q0f 0:754 q0f 0:732
Zc ¼ q0Cd1 þ 0:0571  j0:087ð Þ e ð4Þ tify the changes in the chemical composition of the cellulose fibers
r r due to the chemical treatment.
3
S. Sambandamoorthy, V. Narayanan, Lenin Babu Mailan Chinnapandi et al.
2.6. Morphological study using SEM
The surfaces of the treated and untreated jute fibers were visu-
alized by the images obtained from the ZEISS SUPRA55 scanning
electron microscope. In addition to the surface characterization,
the top view of the fibers was taken to investigate the lumen cav-
ity. The accelerating voltage for most of the images is taken with
2.5 kV.
Fig. 2. Sound absorption coefficient of jute fiber at various fiber lengths.
Fig. 3. Sound absorption mechanism in jute fiber [Reproduced view of [43]].
4
Applied Acoustics 173 (2021) 107677
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Influence of fiber length on the acoustic property of jute fiber
The untreated jute fibers of 5, 10, 15 and 20 mm length are
tested for their sound absorption property by the impedance tube
method. The test results of the sound absorption coefficient vs fre-
quency for various fiber lengths are plotted and shown in Fig. 2.
From the figure it was observed that by increasing the fiber length
the sound absorption coefficient of jute fiber varies from 0.38 to
0.95 in the range of 800 Hz to 6 kHz. Further, the maximum sound
absorption coefficient of 0.9–0.95 is obtained in the range of
2.5 kHz and 4.5 kHz. Below 1 kHz frequency, the fiber length does
not significantly affect the sound absorption coefficient. The max-
imum sound absorption coefficient is attained for the fiber length
of 20 mm (JFL4). The mechanism of sound wave absorption in nat-
ural fibers is shown in Fig. 3. Due to the porous nature of the fiber
because of lumen, the majority of sound waves pass through it and
a small portion of it passes through the gap between the fibers,
thereby absorbing the incident sound waves. Further, as the sound
waves pass, the air molecules vibrate within the material pores and
hence, they lose their energy. Due to the thermal and viscous losses
at the walls, part of the energy molecules was changed to heat.
[31,32]. However, the sound absorption decreases in the range of
3500 to 4000 Hz and then again increases till 5000 Hz. This type
of behavior occurred due to the reflecting sound at 3500 Hz, which
was an explicit behavior of bio fibers [42]. The natural fibers con-
sist of the hollow lumen structure which assists in transforming
S. Sambandamoorthy, V. Narayanan, Lenin Babu Mailan Chinnapandi et al.
the sound energy by vibration. Due to the increase in the fiber
length the porous structures of the fiber and air cavities also
increase and hence, the sound energy transmitting through the
lumen structure of the fiber absorbs more sound waves in the
20mmfiber length (JFL4). Further observations from the SEM Image
show in Fig. 4 that the jute fibers consist of large number of hollow
lumen structures in addition to the nano fibrils which contribute to
transform the sound energy [33].
3.2. Effect of surface modification on the acoustic property of jute fiber
The initial assessment of the influence of fiber length on the
sound absorption coefficient, showed that 20 mm fiber length
has the highest sound absorption property, and was taken for sur-
face modification by chemical treatment. In order to remove the
dirt/unwanted particles present in the raw jute fiber, the chemical
treatments are carried out. Fig. 5 shows the comparison of the
sound absorption coefficient of untreated fibers and their values
are tabulated in Table 3 for comparison of untreated and surface
modified jute fiber. From the figure it is observed that the sound
Fig. 4. Hollow lumen structure of untreated jute fiber.
Fig. 5. Comparison of the sound absorption coefficient of untreated and treated jute
fibers.
Table 3
Comparison of the Sound absorption coefficient of treated and untreated fibers at various frequencies.
S. No Frequency (Hz) 20 mm (JFL4)
1 1000 0.76
2 1500 0.87
3 2500 0.99
4 4000 0.93
5 4500 0.99
6 5000 0.75
5
Applied Acoustics 173 (2021) 107677
absorption coefficient of the surface modified jute fibers was lower
than that of the untreated fiber at all the tested frequencies. The
chemicals got attached on to the inner and outer surfaces of the
fiber, decreasing the sound wave propagations in the fiber. Of the
three treatments, the alkali (NaOH) treated fibers have a sound
absorption coefficient closer to that of the untreated fiber at all fre-
quencies. The natural fibers exist as a bundle of individual cells
with a hollow cavity called lumen. This lumen structure decreases
the bulk density of the fiber and acts as a source of acoustic insu-
lator. Further, the chemical treatment compresses the hollow
lumen structure in the fiber which is responsible for the sound
absorption by the fiber. The formation of porosity depends upon
the influence of the chemical binder [34] The reason for a closer
sound absorption coefficient of the alkali treated jute fiber was
due to the formation of a dense layer of cellulose, pectin, hemicel-
luloses, lignin, and other lower-molecular weight materials on the
surface of the fiber and this increases the air flow resistivity of the
fiber [31]. Also, the binder fills the empty voids of the fiber, which
reduces its porosity [12].
The comparative sound absorption coefficients of the untreated
and treated jute fibers have been tabulated in Table 3. From the
table, it is observed at that all the frequencies, the untreated fiber
possesses a better sound absorption property than the treated
fibers. Figs. 6–8 show the SEM images of the surface treated jute
fibers with alkali, sodium bicarbonate and chromium sulphate.
These figures show the reduced size of the hollow lumen structure,
rough fiber surface and thick fiber wall when compared with the
untreated jute fiber. Figs. 6–8 also show that the treated fiber
has lesser number of air cavities, which in turn, reduces the air
flow resistivity [35]. Further, the thicker fiber wall contains lower
number of nano fibrils, which dissipates the sound energy also
[33].Since, the sound absorption behavior is governed by the inter-
connected porous structure of the fiber materials and the thin wall
surrounded by the nano fibrils, all of which decrease due to the
surface modification, the treated jute fiber becomes inferior in
the acoustic properties to the untreated fiber..
Fig. 6. Hollow lumen structure of the NaOH treated fiber.
NaOH (ST1) NaHCO3 (ST2) Cr2SO4 (ST3)
0.68 0.49 0.61
0.82 0.63 0.74
0.98 0.96 0.96
0.88 0.87 0.87
0.96 0.95 0.97
0.63 0.51 0.55
S. Sambandamoorthy, V. Narayanan, Lenin Babu Mailan Chinnapandi et al.
Fig. 7. Hollow lumen structure of the NaHCO3 treated fiber.
Fig. 8. Hollow lumen structure of the Cr2SO4 treated fiber.
3.3. FTIR spectroscopy analysis
The FTIR spectral analysis is used to characterize the treated
and untreated jute fibers and it provides the qualitative indication
about the structural arrangement. The FTIR spectrum Analysis of
Fig. 9. FTIR Analysis of Untreated Jute Fiber.
6
Applied Acoustics 173 (2021) 107677
the raw and treated fiber is shown in Figs. 9 to 12. It exhibits the
region of band absorption for the untreated and treated with NaoH,
NaHCO3 and Cr2So4 jute fiber as 3337.21 cm1, 3330.1 cm1,
3329.5 cm1 and 3768 cm1 respectively, and this indicates that
the O–H stretching is free. The O–H stretching and H bonded broad
absorption is decreased after the chemical treatment due to the
effect of sodium hydroxide [41]. The peaks in the spectrum at
2897.62 cm1, 2906.2 cm1, 2899.45 and 2921.63 cm1 for the
untreated and treated fibers indicate the C–H stretching region.
The spectrum peaks at 1733.69 cm1, 1736.68 cm1,
1726.98 cm1 and 1737.55 cm1 indicate the C@O stretching in
Carbonyl. The absorption band positions at 1640.16 cm1,
1642.09 cm1 and 1636 cm1 show the adsorbed water molecules
in non-crystalline cellulose for the raw jute fiber and the fiber trea-
ted with NaHCo3 and Cr2So4 respectively. The peak values of the
spectrum at1608.06 cm1, 1598.7 cm1 and 1606.13 cm1 indicate
the aromatic skeleton ring and vibration owing to the adsorbed
water. The band positions at 1504.2 cm1 and 1506.13 cm1 show
the assignment of aromatic skeleton ring vibration. The character-
istics of the peaks at 1426.1 cm1, 1423.21 cm1, 1423.21 cm1
and 1426.1 cm1 represent the characterization of C–H deforma-
tion for the Untreated and treated Jute fiber [36]. The transmit-
tance Peaks at 1024 cm1, 1026.91 cm1, 1024.02 cm1 and
1102.12 cm1 represent the C–C stretching [37]. The observation
exhibits that the chemical treatment successfully interacts with
the raw jute fiber and all surface impurities like oil, wax etc. of
raw fibers are removed [38]. The above results show that the sur-
face modification change the structure of the functional groups and
also the structure of the carbon and hydrogen atoms. Table 4
shows the consolidated peak assignments of the Infra-red spectra
of Jute Fibers.
3.4. Theoretical prediction of the sound absorption coefficient
The two empirical models, namely: Delany-Bazley Model and
Garai- Pompoli Model are used to estimate the acoustic behavior
of untreated and treated jute fibers. The Delany –Bazley model
was used mostly for sound absorption calculation by using the
air flow resistivity [26]. The acoustic Impedance Zc and propaga-
tion constant Kc in the Eqs. (4)–(7) were used to predict the reflec-
tion coefficient. Fig. 13 shows the comparison of the theoretical
model of Delany-Bazley and Garai - Pompoli with the experimental
sound absorption coefficient. The sound absorption coefficients
calculated using both the models were lower than the experimen-
S. Sambandamoorthy, V. Narayanan, Lenin Babu Mailan Chinnapandi et al. Applied Acoustics 173 (2021) 107677

Fig. 10. FTIR spectrum of the NaoH treated Jute Fiber.

Fig. 11. FTIR spectrum of the NaHCO3treated Jute Fiber.

Fig. 12. FTIR spectrum of the Cr2SO4 treated Jute Fiber.

7
S. Sambandamoorthy, V. Narayanan, Lenin Babu Mailan Chinnapandi et al.
Table.4
Peak Assignments of the Infrared spectra of Untreated and Treated Jute fibers.
Band Position (cm1) Band Assignment
3300–3770 O–H Stretching in free
2870–2925 C–H Stretching region
1725–1740 C = O Stretching Carbonyl.
1635–1645 Adsorbed water molecules in Non-crystalline cellulose.
Around 1600 Aromatic Skeleton ring vibration and vibration owing to adsorbed water.
Around 1500 Aromatic skeleton ring Vibration.
1423–1427 C–H Deformation
1000–1162 C–C Stretching.
Fig. 13. Comparison of Experimental and Theoretical Model.
tal till 3500 Hz frequency, but after that, the theoretical and exper-
imental values are closer in the frequency range from 3500 to
4500 Hz. The experimental sound absorption coefficient of Jute
fiber (JFL4) at 3500 Hz was 0.89 whereas it was 0.88 and 0.80 for
the Delany and Garai model respectively. Also, the experimental
value of the sound absorption coefficient of jute fiber (JFL4) was
0.92 at 4000 Hz and at the same frequency, the values were 0.90
and 0.82 for the Delany and Garai model. The theoretical values
were significantly lower than the experimental values with errors
of 1% and 10% at 3500 Hz. Also, the errors were 2% and 10% at
4000 Hz. It seems that the high percentage of errors occurred
due to the low absorption coefficient. After that, the experimental
values were found to be lower till 6500 HZ. The deviation between
the experimental and theoretical values occurred due to the fact
that the models developed are for very thin fiber having diameters
less than 10 mm. Since the diameter of the jute fiber was 50–60 mm
the deviation between these experimental and theoretical predic-
tions were observed [27]. This shows that the theoretical models
predicted values closer to the experimental values at mid fre-
quency ranges as these models assume the material as uniform
and homogeneous along the length of the fiber, whereas it is in
natural fibers [40,41].
4. Conclusions
This study emphasizes the influence of the fiber length and sur-
face modification by chemical treatment on the acoustic character-
istics of jute fibers. The sound absorption coefficient increases with
an increase in the fiber length and reaches the maximum value at
the fiber length of 20 mm. The untreated jute fibers have better
sound absorbing capability than the treated ones, because the
treatment reduces the hallow lumen structure as seen from the
8
Applied Acoustics 173 (2021) 107677
References
[36,41]
[36]
[36]
[36]
[36]
[36]
[36]
[37]
SEM images. The comparative study of the theory and experimen-
tation shows that the theoretical model predicts lower values at
lower frequency and closer values at higher frequency and this
provides the limitation to the theoretical model for natural fibers
due to the heterogeneous nature of this porous material. In sum-
mary, this study proves that jute fiber possesses excellent sound
absorption capability and hence, can be used for noise control
and reduction application without affecting the environment.
CRediT Author statement
Senthilrajan Sambandamoorthy: Experimentation , Analysis,
Interperation of Data ,Result and discussion and Formation of
Manuscript. Venkateshwaran Narayanan: Concept and Idea gen-
eration, Guidance. Lenin Babu Mailan Chinnapandi: Validation
and Analysis of results in manuscript. Alavudeen Aziz: Revising
and important content in Manuscript.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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