VALIDATION OF THE KUNDT TUBE DEVICE MADE FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT AND THE ACOUSTIC IMPEDANCE OF SOME LOCAL CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IN BENIN.

Abstract

Knowing the acoustic properties (acoustic absorption coefficient and impedance) of the local materials used in the construction of buildings in Benin is a crucial issue for the acoustic comfort of the occupants. However, these properties are not available for each material and they can vary significantly depending on the consistency density and general shape of material. One of the most important and frequently used acoustic properties for a material is the absorption coefficient, which is a measure of the sound energy that a material can absorb from an incident sound wave. For the measurement of this parameter, the use of the Kundt tube is often preferred. Thus, we realized a Kundt tube equipped with a single microphone for the characterization of local materials. The validation of this device has been conducted with three materials that are: wool glass, polystyrene and wood varnish. measurements were performed with samples following the octave band on a frequency range from 250 Hz to 2000 Hz and the values obtained were compared with those of the literature. This has allowed us to ensure the good performance of the tube as well as the replicability and the reliability of measurements.