Sound absorption of sisal fiber panels

6 p. : il.Mineral wools (glass wool and rock wool) are the most used sound absorption material in construction market. Their popularity is justified, because besides high absorption coefficients, those are light, lasting and thermal insulating materials. Also manufacturers with great production capacity facilitate their general acceptance on this market. Nevertheless those products have some negative points, as health harms to workers involved in production/installation and a very difficult waste process. Those characteristics are more and more unaccepted by society and environmental laws tend towards a more restrictive use of them. As alternative some researchers have been studying sound absorption properties of vegetable fibers, easy to waste and harmless materials. This work shows preliminary results of a research on sound absorption of sisal fiber, a cheap and plentiful material in Brazil. Sisal fiber panels have been made and their absorption coefficients measured with an impedance tube, using the Transfer Function Method (two microphones). Also fire resistance of those panels and effects of fire retardants have been considered on this research stage