Applied Acoustics 149 (2019) 108–113

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

Technical note

Perforated panel absorbers with micro-perforated partitions

J. Carbajo a,⇑, J. Ramis a, L. Godinho b, P. Amado-Mendes b
a
University of Alicante, Department of Physics, Systems Engineering and Signal Theory, San Vicente del Raspeig, Spain
b
ISISE, University of Coimbra, Department of Civil Engineering, Coimbra, Portugal

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

Article history: Some of the most extended approaches to widen the sound absorption bandwidth of perforated panel
Received 20 December 2018 absorbers are the use of different cavity depths or multi-layer arrangements. Unfortunately, these solu-
Received in revised form 21 January 2019 tions are rarely adopted in practice because of the technical installation difficulties or the large space
Accepted 22 January 2019
requirements. This work explores an alternative compact solution consisting of a multi-size perforated
Available online 5 February 2019
panel absorber with micro-perforated partitioned cavities. While multi-size perforated panel absorbers
with rigidly partitioned cavities show a wider sound absorption effective bandwidth when compared
Keywords:
to those using single sized holes (i. e. multiple resonances instead of single resonance), the use of
Perforated panel absorber
Micro-perforated partitions
micro-perforated partitions was found to further broaden it and hence improve their sound absorption
Sound absorption performance. A simplified approximate model for the prediction of the acoustic properties of such devices
Equivalent Circuit Method was derived using the Equivalent Circuit Method (ECM) and the Maa model for MPPs (Micro-Perforated
Panels). Results in terms of the sound absorption coefficient under normal incidence showed a good
agreement when compared to finite element simulations both for the cases with rigid and micro-
perforated partitions. In addition, a parametric study was found very helpful to understand the influence
of the geometrical features of the micro-perforated partitions on the acoustic behavior of the resonator,
thus being useful for its design and analysis.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Miasa et al. [7] investigated experimentally the sound absorp-

tion performance of partitioned MPP absorbers whose holes have
Over the last decades, perforated panel absorbers have been multiple sizes. Their results showed that a multi-size MPP absorber
widely used as passive noise control systems to reduce noise in may enhance and widen the absorption effective frequency band
urban environments [1] and buildings [2]. These absorbers consist when compared to those of uniform size. Yairi et al. [8] also ana-
of a perforated flat surface backed by an air cavity to form an lyzed the sound absorption of a combination of different MPP
acoustic resonator which attenuates sound due to viscous friction absorbers and proposed an equivalent circuit model for their anal-
in its holes. When their holes are reduced in size, these devices ysis which was validated against impedance tube measurements.
are referred to as MPP absorbers, resulting in a wide-band sound These compound MPP absorbers were analyzed by Wang and
absorber [3]. Despite their good sound absorption performance, a Huang [9] as well, a finite element procedure being proposed to
lot of research has been carried out in recent years to further estimate their acoustic behavior under normal incidence. More
improve and widen their sound absorption bandwidth by using recently, Li et al. [10] studied the use of parallel-arranged perfo-
different partitioned cavity depths [4], optimized multi-layer rated panels with extended tubes. In doing so, several configura-
arrangements [5] or ultra-micro perforations [6]. Unfortunately, tions that achieved widened low-frequency absorption were
these solutions are seldom adopted in practice mainly due to the proposed; an equivalent circuit based modeling procedure being
technical installation difficulties or because being considered too also developed. In an effort to further improve the performance
costly. Besides, the use of panels with uniform size perforations of multi-size absorbers, Kim and Yoon [11] devised the use of a
may pose a limitation to broaden the absorption bandwidth of porous partition instead of a rigid partition to separate the backing
the resonator system. air cavities. In their work, finite element simulations together with
a numerical optimization technique were used to analyze the influ-
ence of such partitions and derive an optimized design of these
⇑ Corresponding author. absorbers. While the above works rely on well-established impe-
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (J. Carbajo), [email protected] (J. Ramis), dance models and methods to predict the acoustic behavior of
[email protected] (L. Godinho), [email protected] (P. Amado-Mendes).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2019.01.023
0003-682X/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 J. Carbajo et al. / Applied Acoustics 149 (2019) 108–113 109

these resonators, to the authors’ knowledge, no previous research

has been devoted to analytically model these latter multi-size per-
forated panel absorbers with porous partitions. Moreover, the use
of micro-perforated partitions instead of porous ones lets conceive
an absorber whose applicability can be extended for those cases in
which a minimum compactness and structural strength are
required without undermining its sound absorption performance.
This work explores the acoustic properties of perforated panel
absorbers with micro-perforated partitions by using a simplified
prediction model. This approach makes use of the electro-
acoustic equivalent circuit theory together with the Maa model
[3] to describe the perforated panel and the micro-perforated par-
titions. Equivalent circuits have been successfully used in the liter- (a)
ature to study the acoustic properties of MPP absorbers
[3,4,6,8,12,13], the major novelty of the herein proposed approach
being the use of the Kennelly theorem (i.e. Y-D transform) [14] to
tackle the inclusion of the micro-perforated partition in the equiv-
alent circuit of the absorber. Prediction results in terms of the
sound absorption coefficient under normal incidence are compared
to finite element simulations both for the cases of rigid and micro-
perforated partitions, showing a good agreement. Additionally, a
parametric study was found very useful to show the influence of
the micro-perforated partition characteristics on the sound absorp-
tion bandwidth of these devices.
The structure of this paper is as follows: in Section 2, a macro-
scopic description of the perforated panel absorber with micro-
perforated partitions is given, and the Maa model for MPP absor-
(b)
bers is recalled. Section 3 presents the simplified model imple-
mented using the ECM, along with a finite element methodology perforated
reproducing an impedance tube setup used to verify the former. region I
In Section 4, sound absorption coefficient results obtained using
both approaches are compared for absorbers with rigid partitions
L t'
or with micro-perforated partitions, showing a good agreement.
Additionally, a parametric study was conducted to better under-
D
stand the influence of the geometrical features of the micro- Micro-perforated
perforated partitions on the acoustic behavior of the resonator. perforated partition
Some remarks on the applicability of the proposed simplified region II
t
approach are also given. Finally, Section 5 summarizes the main
conclusions of this work.
(c)
Fig. 1. Schematic representation of a perforated panel absorber with micro-
2. Background theory perforated partitions: (a) frontal view, (b) rear view, and (c) elementary cell.

2.2. Maa model for MPPs

2.1. Perforated panel absorber with micro-perforated partitions

Maa proposed an expression for the acoustic transfer impe-

A schematic representation of a perforated panel absorber of
dance of a flat rigid micro-perforated panel whose circular perfora-
infinite lateral extent with micro-perforated partitions is depicted
tions are periodically distributed along its surface, which reads as
in Fig. 1. Given the periodicity of the absorber, only an elementary
follows [3]
cell of the resonator was considered (i. e. a micro-perforated parti-
0 0  pffiffiffiffiffiffi 11 1
tion and half of each distinct perforated region, as depicted in
1B 2J 1 s j pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi xq 0:85dC
Fig. 1c). Therefore, the perforated panel of thickness t and height Z Maa ¼ @jxq0 t @1  pffiffiffiffiffiffi  pffiffiffiffiffiffiA þ 2gq0 x þ j 0
A
L is composed of two different perforated regions, denoted as I / s jJ0 s j w ðn Þ
and II, their respective backing air cavities (not plotted in the fig-
ure) being separated with micro-perforated partitions of depth D ð1Þ
and thickness t’. where s = d(xq0/(4g)) , d is the diameter of the perforations, q0
1/2

When the dimensions of these regions are much smaller than the density of air, x the angular frequency, and g the dynamic vis-
the wavelength of interest, the electro-acoustic analogy can be cosity of air; / is the perforation rate, t the panel thickness, Jn is the
adopted to derive an equivalent circuit of the absorber and thus Bessel function of the first kind for order n, and w(n) is the Fok func-
predict its sound absorption performance under plane wave nor- tion, which accounts for the holes interaction effect [15], and is
mal incidence. To undergo the analysis of the resulting equivalent given by
circuit, acoustic transfer impedances of the elements involved 
must be known beforehand. Specifically, the Maa model [3] for wðnÞ ¼ 1  1:40925n þ 0:33818n3 þ 0:06793n5  0:02287n6
MPPs was chosen to define the impedances of the perforated 1
þ0:03015n7  0:01641n8 þ    ð2Þ
regions and micro-perforated partition. This impedance model is
described next, whereas the implementation of the equivalent cir- with n = 0.88d/b, being b = (d/2)(p//) 1/2
the distance between
cuit of the absorber will be described in Section 3.1. perforations for a homogeneous perforated panel.
110 J. Carbajo et al. / Applied Acoustics 149 (2019) 108–113

Given that this model can be applied indistinctly to the perfo- Given that the impedance between any pair of terminals must
rated regions and the micro-perforated partitions, by knowing be the same for both networks, the following relations between
the geometrical characteristics of each element it is thus straight- impedance elements must be fulfilled
forward to derive their respective acoustic transfer impedances.
Z1 Z3
ZA ¼ ð3Þ
Z1 þ Z2 þ Z3
3. Methods
Z1 Z2
ZB ¼ ð4Þ
3.1. Equivalent Circuit Method (ECM) Z1 þ Z2 þ Z3

Once the acoustic elements that make up the perforated panel Z2 Z3

ZC ¼ ð5Þ
absorber with micro-perforated partitions were identified and Z1 þ Z2 þ Z3
their respective acoustic transfer impedances defined, the model- Thereby, by substituting Z1, Z2, and Z3 by ZAC, ZMPP, and ZAC,
ing procedure using the Equivalent Circuit Method (ECM) is respectively, the Kennelly theorem can be used in the equivalent
described. The electro-acoustic equivalent circuit theory is fre- circuit of Fig. 2b. It should be noted that every acoustic impedance
quently used to solve an acoustical problem by representing the in this circuit must be previously divided by the surface ratio ri = Si/
system under study with a schematic diagram. In particular, it S, where Si and S are the cross-sectional surface areas of the corre-
turns out to be a very useful tool to predict the sound absorption sponding acoustic element i and the elementary cell, respectively.
performance of MPP absorbers [3,4,6,8,12,13]. The resulting model Given that the absorber was considered infinite along the lateral
will let us obtain the surface impedance of the resonator system dimension, this surface ratio is directly proportional to a ratio of
and thus estimate its sound absorption performance by following longitudes. Therefore, once these transformations are applied,
an impedance analysis. Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of an ele- basic circuit analysis theory can be used to derive the surface
mentary cell of a perforated panel absorber with micro-perforated impedance of the whole absorber from
partitions and its corresponding equivalent acoustic circuit.
In that circuit, the acoustic transfer impedance ZMPP corre- ðZ PP;I þ Z B ÞðZ PP;II þ Z C Þ
Z S ¼ ðZ PP;I þ Z B Þ==ðZ PP;II þ Z C Þ þ Z A ¼ þ ZA
sponds to the micro-perforated partition, ZPP,I and ZPP,II to the per- Z PP;I þ Z PP;II þ Z B þ Z C
forated regions, and ZAC = jZ0cot(k0D) to the air cavities of ð6Þ
thickness D, Z0 and k0 being the characteristic impedance and the
wave number in air, respectively. In case the partitions were rigid It is straightforward then to derive the normal incidence sound
(the branch of ZMPP being removed), the whole absorber could be absorption coefficient as [16]
described from the parallel combination of the impedances of each  
Z S  Z 0 2
a ¼ 1    ð7Þ
ZS þ Z0 
perforated region, ZPP,I and ZPP,II, coupled to the impedance of their
respective air cavities, ZAC. The point is that, in the case under
study, these cavities are in turn coupled by a micro-perforated par- Thereupon Eq. (6) is generic and may serve to analyze both
tition (ZMPP). This slight difficulty can be overcome by means of the cases (i.e. rigid and micro-perforated partition) in a simple manner
Kennelly theorem or Y-D transform [14], which establishes equiv- without the need for additional corrections.
alence for networks with three terminals as those depicted in
Fig. 3. 3.2. Finite element method (FEM)

For the purpose of verification of the proposed approach, a

three-dimensional numerical model of an impedance tube setup
perforated Air was implemented using the finite element method. Following the
region I cavity procedure described in the standard ISO 10534-2 [17], the sound
Micro-perforated
partition
ZB ZC
perforated Air
region II cavity B C

ZA
(a)
Z PP , I A
(a)
Z PP , II Z MPP Z2
B C

Z AC Z AC Z1 Z3

A A

(b) (b)
Fig. 2. Perforated panel absorber with micro-perforated partitions: (a) Schematic Fig. 3. Equivalence for networks with three terminals according to the Kennelly
diagram of an elementary cell, and (b) equivalent acoustic circuit. theorem or Y-D transform: (a) star (or Y) network, and (b) delta (or D) network.
 J. Carbajo et al. / Applied Acoustics 149 (2019) 108–113 111

absorption coefficient under normal incidence for an elementary

cell of the perforated panel absorber with micro-perforated parti-
tions was obtained. Fig. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the
implemented numerical scheme.
In the numerical model, both the impedance tube and the air
cavities domains were modeled as air. The perforated regions
and the micro-perforated partition were modeled as acoustic
transfer impedances using the Maa model, remaining boundaries
being considered acoustically rigid. The problem domains were
discretized using quadratic tetrahedral elements, the maximum
element size being set to 0.015 m (small enough relative to the
acoustic wavelengths of interest). A plane wave incidence pressure
was imposed at the opposite side of the resonant absorber and the
sound absorption coefficient obtained from the pressure field data
computed for each frequency in the numerical simulations.

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Comparison of rigid and micro-perforated partitions

Fig. 5. Sound absorption coefficient of the perforated panel absorber with rigid
(ECM: discontinuous line, FEM: s) and micro-perforated (ECM: continuous line,
Predictions of the sound absorption performance of a perforated FEM: h) partitions whose geometrical characteristics are listed in Table 1
panel absorber with either rigid or micro-perforated partitions (L = 10 mm and D = 20 mm). Dotted lines correspond to each individual resonator.
were obtained using the ECM and compared to those obtained
using the FEM. The geometrical characteristics of the perforated
regions and the micro-perforated partition of the absorber under 4.2. Influence of the characteristics of the micro-perforated partition
study are listed in Table 1. The height of the elementary cell was
set to L = 10 mm, and the depth of the air cavity was set to A parametric study was conducted to understand the influence
D = 20 mm. Simulations were performed for frequencies ranging of the characteristics of the micro-perforated partition on the
from 200 Hz to 2200 Hz. Results for the sound absorption coeffi- sound absorption performance of the resonator system. The range
cient under normal incidence are shown in Fig. 5. of analysis of the parametric study was chosen from typical values
The agreement between the proposed model and the finite ele- normally used in MPPs (i. e. 0.5–2 mm in thickness, 0.05–0.2 mm
ment simulations is shown to be satisfactory in both cases. In the in diameter, 0.5–2% in perforation rate). The reference geometrical
rigid partitions case, the low-frequency peak corresponds to the characteristics of the perforated regions and backing cavities used
resonator of the perforated region I, the high-frequency peak corre- in this study were the same as those used in Section 4.1. In order to
sponding to that of the perforated region II. Results for each indi- further verify the proposed approach, both the results obtained
vidual resonator are also plotted for clarity. On the other hand, it using the ECM and the FEM were compared in the subsequent
can be seen that the use of micro-perforated partitions notably plots.
enhances and broadens the sound absorption bandwidth when First, calculations were performed for micro-perforated parti-
compared to the rigid partitions case, the resonance peaks being tions with three different thicknesses: 0.5 mm, 1 mm, and 2 mm;
merged in a single but wider sound absorption peak. Furthermore, all other parameters being held constant (/MPP = 1%, d’ = 0.1 mm).
the use of rigid micro-perforated partitions lets conceive a still Fig. 6 shows the resulting sound absorption curves.
compact and robust absorber for such cases in which a minimum
structural strength is required while yielding an excellent sound
absorption performance.

Fig. 4. Numerical scheme of a perforated panel absorber with micro-perforated

partitions in an impedance tube.

Table 1
Geometrical characteristics of the perforated panel absorber with micro-perforated
partitions.

Acoustic element / (%) d (mm) t (mm)

PP,I (perforated region) 1 1 2
PP,II (perforated region) 4 2 2
MPP (micro-perforated partition) 1 0.1 1 Fig. 6. Influence of the micro-perforated partition thickness, t’, on the sound
absorption coefficient. Solid line: ECM; markers: FEM.
112 J. Carbajo et al. / Applied Acoustics 149 (2019) 108–113

Again, good agreement was found between ECM and FEM sim- sound absorption coefficient, 100(haMPPi  haRPi)/haRPi), as a func-
ulations for the three analyzed cases. In general, the sound absorp- tion of both the diameter of the perforations and perforation rate of
tion curve enhances and broadens as the thickness of the micro- the micro-perforated partition is shown in Fig. 8 (haMPPi: arith-
perforated partitions increases. Note that the dual resonance effect metic average over frequency of the sound absorption coefficient
is not evident in the sound absorption curves for the analyzed for the case of micro-perforated partitions; haRPi: arithmetic aver-
thicknesses. One way of qualitatively explain this trend is to con- age over frequency of the sound absorption coefficient for the case
sider that both resonators are now strongly coupled in such a of rigid partitions).
way that the multiple resonances are closer to each other. From the resulting multi-parametric plot, it is inferred that by
Next, the influence of the diameter of the micro-perforations just decreasing the perforation rate or reducing the micro-
was investigated, the perforation rate being kept constant. Fig. 7 perforation diameter, the average sound absorption coefficient in
compares the sound absorption calculated for three diameters: the frequency range of analysis can be improved up to a 50% or
0.05 mm, 0.1 mm, and 0.2 mm; remaining parameters being held more. This was partly expected from the previous analysis, even
constant (/MPP = 1%, t’ = 1 mm). though a maximum improvement is achieved for a perforation rate
Once again, predictions obtained using the ECM fit well to those of 0.5% and diameter values around 0.1 mm, these latter not being
obtained with the FEM. The results indicate that the first resonance the smaller ones in the multi-parametric analysis. Nevertheless,
peak markedly shifts to low frequencies for the smallest hole diam- the perforation rate and micro-perforation diameter combination
eter, almost reaching that obtained for the case with rigid parti- should not only be determined by considering the maximum aver-
tions (around 700 Hz). This absorption behavior turns out to be age sound absorption, but also the frequency spectrum of the
of great interest since it still lets enhance the sound absorption sound absorption coefficient. All the same, this multi-parametric
at high frequencies while preserving a good absorption in the analysis can be very useful in practice when the design character-
low-frequency range. Besides, both absorption peaks are practi- istics of the micro-perforated partition are to be selected.
cally above 0.8, which asserts the good absorption performance Additionally, the influence of increasing the air cavities depth
of these devices. Conversely, larger hole diameters not only reduce was analyzed. Even though strictly speaking this is not a feature
the sound absorption but also narrows the effective absorption of the micro-perforated partition, results showed an effect that is
bandwidth of the resonator, the dual resonance phenomena being worth discussing. Fig. 9 shows the sound absorption curves
less self-evident as the diameter increases. obtained for three depths of the air cavities: 10 mm, 20 mm, and
Finally, the influence of the perforation rate on the sound 30 mm; all the parameters of the partitions being held constant
absorption performance was studied, the diameter of the micro- (/MPP = 1%, d0 = 0.1 mm, t0 = 1 mm).
perforations not being kept constant this time. In fact, given that Notice that the sound absorption curve shifts to lower frequen-
in practice the perforation rate of a homogeneous perforated ele- cies and the total bandwidth gets narrowed when the air cavities
ment (i. e. the micro-perforated partition in the case under study) depth increases. Generally, this is a typical tendency of perforated
is usually linked to the size of its perforations (e. g. larger perfora- panel absorbers with single sized holes. However, while the results
tions yield higher porosities), a multi-parametric analysis was suggest that increasing the cavity depth is detrimental as far as
found more helpful for the better understanding of the underlying widening the total sound absorption curve, a significant broaden-
phenomena. Hence, perforation rates in the range 0.5–2% for ing can be achieved in a target low-frequency band when com-
micro-perforation diameter values from 0.05 mm to 0.2 mm were pared to a configuration with rigid partitions without the need of
analyzed; the thickness being held constant (t0 = 1 mm). In order modifying the characteristics of the perforated regions. This partic-
to further illustrate the sound absorption improvement when ular feature makes these devices an attractive choice for these sit-
using micro-perforated partitions instead of rigid ones, a surface uations in which a problem in a specific frequency band must be
plot of the relative improvement (in percentage) of the average addressed.

Fig. 8. Relative improvement (in percentage) of the average sound absorption

coefficient, 100(haMPPi  haRPi)/haRPi), as a function of the diameter of the micro-
perforations and perforation rate of the micro-perforated partition (haMPPi: arith-
metic average over frequency of the sound absorption coefficient for the case of
Fig. 7. Influence of the micro-perforated partition hole diameter, d’, on the sound micro-perforated partitions; haRPi: arithmetic average over frequency of the sound
absorption coefficient. Solid line: ECM; markers: FEM. absorption coefficient for the case of rigid partitions).
 J. Carbajo et al. / Applied Acoustics 149 (2019) 108–113 113

rem. The proposed model was validated with numerical simula-

tions using the FEM for both rigid and micro-perforated
partitions configurations, results showing a good agreement when
compared in terms of sound absorption. Taking advantage of this
simple modeling procedure, a parametric study was also con-
ducted to look into the influence of the geometrical characteristics
of the micro-perforated partition (i. e. thickness, micro-perforation
size, and perforation rate) on the acoustic behavior of the resonator
system. In summary, the excellent sound absorption performance
of these absorbers encourages their development as an alternative
to other solutions that entail practical installation difficulties or
require more space, the proposed approximate model being in turn
of great utility for the design and analysis thereof.

Acknowledgments

Dissemination of this work was supported by COST (European

Cooperation in Science and Technology) through the COST Action
CA15125 – DENORMS: ‘‘Designs for Noise Reducing Materials
Fig. 9. Influence of the air cavities depth, D, on the sound absorption coefficient. and Structures”. The work was developed within the scope of the
Solid line: ECM; markers: FEM. CENTRO-01-0247-FEDER-033884 (ADJUST) Project, funded by
FEDER funds through the Regional Operational Programme CEN-
4.3. Remarks on the applicability of the model TRO2020. This work was also partly supported by FEDER funds
through the Competitivity Factors Operational Programme – COM-
Notwithstanding the use of micro-perforated partitions notice- PETE and by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science
ably broadens the sound absorption curve of perforated panels and Technology within the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-
absorbers, there are some remarks concerning the applicability of FEDER-007633 (ISISE).
the proposed model that are worth mentioning. For instance, the
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