Theoretical and experiment analysis on the sound absorption characteristics of a layer of fine lightweight powder

In this study, the sound absorption characteristics of lightweight powders with a particle size on the order of tens of micrometers have been investigated. Herein, to theoretically determine the sound absorption coefficient of a fine lightweight powder in the longitudinal vibration mode, it was assumed that the powder was continuum and could be treated as a multiple degree-of-freedom damping vibration system. In addition, the acoustic impedance was calculated by assuming proportional viscous damping to determine the sound absorption coefficient. Finally, the theoretical and experimental values were compared. With the presented theoretical analysis, values close to the experimental results were obtained. Among the three calculated values based on proportional viscous damping, i.e., Rayleigh damping, rigidity proportional damping, and mass proportional damping, the results for Rayleigh damping were the closest to the experimental values.