Research of Insertion Loss of Multilayered Construction with Devulcanized Waste Rubber

In this study, the insertion loss of devulcanized waste rubber baffles were evaluated. Acoustic baffles are suitable to reduce noise from the devices or machines by interfering with their emitting sound waves. Knowledge of the acoustic properties of the material used is of significant importance in ensuring the effectiveness of the acoustic properties of the baffle. Basic properties include airborne sound insulation, which is usually determined during laboratory tests. Baffles consists of sound absorbing and sound insulating materials. In this study, plasterboards were used as sound insulating material and devulcanized waste rubber as sound absorbing material. During the devulcanization process, porous granules are obtained, which can be used as an acoustic material. In this study, two types of rubber granules were devulcanized by grinding method and one other type was chemically devulcanized. Three types of rubber granules were mixed together in increasing 25 % proportion steps and glued with patented polyurethane glue. A total of 15 different composition devulcanized waste rubber granule boards were made. Rubber boards were attached together with the plasterboards. Insertion loss of the different composite baffles was measured in semi-anechoic chamber in a purposefully designed stand in 1/3rd octave bands. The results showed that the insertion loss of the baffles was mostly dependent on the rubber granule board density. When the density of the rubber board increased, the insertion loss also increased. The 5–6 dB insertion loss difference was measured between the most and least dense rubber granule board baffles.