Study of the Sound Absorption Properties of 3D-Printed Open-Porous ABS Material Structures

Polymers (Basel). 2020 May 6;12(5):1062. doi: 10.3390/polym12051062.

Abstract

Noise pollution is a negative factor that affects our environment. It is, therefore, necessary to take appropriate measures to minimize it. This article deals with the sound absorption properties of open-porous Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) material structures that were produced using 3D printing technology. The material's ability to damp sound was evaluated based on the normal incidence sound absorption coefficient and the noise reduction coefficient, which were experimentally measured by the transfer function method using an acoustic impedance tube. The different factors that affect the sound absorption behavior of the studied ABS specimens are presented in this work. In this study, it was discovered that the sound absorption properties of the tested ABS samples are significantly influenced by many factors, namely by the type of 3D-printed, open-porous material structure, the excitation frequency, the sample thickness, and the air gap size behind the sound-absorbing materials inside the acoustic impedance tube.

Keywords: 3D printing technology; Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene; air gap; frequency; sound absorption; thickness.