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E-waste survey

E-waste survey

200Hz The best performing materials were of synthetic and natural fibres with texture would be ideal for sound absorption.

generally the natural fibre materials. The best for 200 hz frequencies were the plain natural panels and this was the case for when the sound was being tested inside and outside the cupboard 84 DB and 65.5 DB respectively. This showed about a 3Hz reduction inside the cupboard and a 1Hz reduction outside of the cupboard. Although this doesn’t seem like a huge difference, reducing the overall level of bass frequencies is very challenging and for the size of the test, it performed better than I anticipated it would, particularly for the levels measured internally. For 200hz, the best performers were the plain natural panel (inside) 84Db, Plain natural (outside) 65.5 Db and the structural natural panel (outside) 65.4 Db.

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500Hz Overall the best preforming panel was the natural fibre checked panel which registered at 65Db internally and 43Db externally, this equates to a 10Db reduction inside and approximately an 18Db decrease externally from the initial baseline tests. This was a particularly drastic decrease that was perhaps caused by other factors, however the general room rumble was stable at the time and this was taken from an average sound reading over the course of a short period of time. Talking to my mother who is an audio engineer, this particular frequency is particularly easy to absorb. The 500 – 1000Hz tones are generally considered levels that speaking and music range from, for this reason the this test was particularly useful generally saw about a 10DB reduction which was noticeable anecdotally.

1000Hz This was the most surprising test that I conducted. My main motivation for testing the difference between the natural and synthetic fibres was to see if their absorption properties in a home setting were at least on par with one another, to check there wasn’t a huge difference and to see if I could justify suggesting both natural and synthetic fibres for sound absorption panels. However for the higher frequencies, the two best performing panels were made from synthetic materials. Inside the cupboard registered at 70Db for the checked synthetic panel, a 3Db reduction and outside registered at 41.2 Db for the plain synthetic panel, a 10Db reduction. This would indicate that using a combination to conduct. The remainder of the tests

Note

Higher frequencies have shorter wave lengths which is the causation of the difference in reduction between the inside and outside overall reduction levels. This is also why the average reduction between the different frequencies varies, this however could also be attributed to other factors.

Overall there was a noticeable difference between the levels taken with the natural and synthetic materials that was consistent through most of the tests. Ideally these tests could have been taken in a quieter environment.

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