Comparison of transfer function method and reverberation room method in measuring the sound absorption coefficient of rice straw particle mat

This study estimates the sound absorption capability of rice straw particle mats by two methods: the transfer function method and the reverberation room method. In the reverberation method, the central frequency was set to the one-third octave band in the 100-5000 Hz range; in the transfer function method, the frequency range was 500-6400 Hz. Both methods yielded similar noise reduction coefficients of the rice straw mats. The noise reduction coefficient was approximately 0.8, indicating a high sound-absorption property of the mats. Therefore, rice straw matting is a suitable candidate material for sound-barrier walls against highway noise.