The Reuse Method of Waste Tyre Textile Fibers for Sound Absorption Applications

Abstract

Interest in recycled materials and their use has become very significant in recent years. The tyre recycling process is well known and developed. End-of-life tyre rubber has already been successfully recycled in asphalt, playground surfaces, etc. Waste Tyre Textile Fibre (WTTF) is a byproduct of the tyre recycling process. This paper proposes WTTF applications for sound absorption. In this study, three different types of WTTF samples that are characterized by rubber remains were tested. Rubber particles for acoustics applications are considered impurities due to the negative effect on sound absorption. The first samples used for tests had up to 10% remains (WTTF10), the second had up to 54% remains (WTTF54) and the third had up to 70% remains of total mass. Sound absorption tests were performed according to the ISO 10534–2 standard. The average sound absorption coefficient a of WTTF10 (αavg. in the frequency range 160–5000 Hz) was up to 0.64. With increasing thickness of the sample, the average sound absorption coefficient increases. WTTF54 and WTTF70 showed lower results in smaller thicknesses; however, at 60 mm thickness all samples ranged from 0.61 to 0.64. This study aims to propose new material for sound absorption applications.