Comparative evaluation of sustainable sound absorption materials using TOPSİS method

Abstract

This study intends to determine, evaluate and compare new, local and sustainable sound absorptive materials for their possible use in indoors acoustic panel production. The materials selected for this study are recycled textile, tea waste and corn husk. Recycled textile is proposed for its high availability in Turkey since textile industry is very active in the region and tons of pre-consumer (production offcuts) and post-consumer (used clothes) textile wastes are sent to landfill every year. Using recycled textile in producing acoustic panels may not only assist with providing an alternative solution to remediating the noise pollution problem but may also contribute to reducing solid wastes. Additionally, its porous structure is a great quality for the aim of sound absorption. Tea waste and corn husk are proposed as food wastes and agricultural wastes, respectively, as raw materials for acoustic panel production. In additional to being locally available, they possess promising acoustics characteristic that make them promising candidates for the sustainable acoustic panel production industry. Additionally, there is a fourth material, namely fiberglass, that has been selected for the aim of comparison of the herein proposed new, sustainable raw material alternatives with the commercially available conventional materials widely used in acoustic panel production. To select the best sound absorbing material among different alternatives, it is important to use a decision-making tool for the aim of a comprehensive comparison. Such tools help with making the decision based on a number of selected criteria, which might be chosen by the users in accordance with their preference. Within the framework of this study, TOPSIS was selected as the decision-making tool in order to choose the best sound absorbing material among the studied alternatives.