A perforated plate with stepwise apertures for low frequency sound absorption

Abstract

A perforated plate with stepwise apertures (PPSA) is proposed to improve sound absorption for low frequencies. In contrast with an ordinary perforated plate with insufficient acoustic resistance and small acoustic mass, the perforated plate with stepped holes could match the acoustic resistance of air characteristic impedance and also moderately increase acoustic mass especially at low frequencies. Prototypes made by 3D printing technology are tested in an impedance tube. The measured results agree well with that of prediction through theoretical and numerical models. In addition, an absorber array of perforated plates with stepwise apertures is presented to extend the sound absorption bandwidth due to the introduced multiple local resonances.