Acoustic Behaviour of New Rice Husk Composites

This work assesses the viability of recovering an agricultural waste product, rice husk, to produce new composites for the construction industry that could help to reduce the environmental impact of disposing of or burning this waste material. The composite is made with rice husk and other waste or byproducts, including recycled rubber dust from tires and expanded cork waste granules from the cork industry. The present paper assesses the possibility of using this material for acoustic applications. Small boards of different composition and density were produced to evaluate the improvement in impact sound insulation and sound absorption coefficients. The results are very promising and suggest the composites will be useful for noise reduction.