PROCEEDINGS of the23rd International Congress on Acoustics
9 to 13 September 2019 in Aachen, Germany

Drinking Straws as a Broadband Sound Absorber
Ioanna CHRISTIA 1; Martin TENPIERIK 2; Foteini SETAKI2; Marcel BILOW212

Level Acoustics & Vibration, Netherlands

TU Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

ABSTRACTThe range of products developed by the most common absorption principles that fulfil high performance
tuned to specific frequencies, low price, sustainability and aesthetic quality is often limited to porous
materials. The quarter wavelength tube principle may perform well, even in low frequencies, but in a narrowfrequency range. To widen the range, multiple tubes can be tuned to multiple frequencies by choosing
combinations of lengths and diameters. If designed properly, less material is needed thus lower price andtubes can be easily re-used. Based on a research through design method a more broadband sound absorberusing drinking straws has been developed. Measurements of the normal incidence sound absorption
coefficient were performed in an impedance tube and compared to an analytical model based on the theory ofviscothermal wave propagation in prismatic tubes. Different tube materials and geometries were examined
regarding the influence on their performance. The outcomes of this study led to a sound absorber based on 19
different straw lengths that absorbs well in the frequency range from 400Hz till 1000Hz. The importance of
these absorbers can be high when it comes to selective frequency performance that needs to be cost- effective,
sustainable and aesthetically pleasing.
Keywords: quarter-wavelength tube, sound absorber, drinking straws

1. INTRODUCTION
The sound field in a space is highly influenced by the size of the room and the finishing materials
used on the surfaces. For working environments, it is noise which is the most prevalent source ofannoyance [1] [2]. Especially regarding open-plan layouts, even though they provide efficiency interms of spatial configuration [3] and improve the communication between employees [3], speechnoise is widely recognized to be disruptive [3]. Open plan spaces often lack in sound absorption andshielding, resulting in big, uncomfortable and noisy spaces. This implies that preventing soundpropagation over long distances is important. The main acoustic source of disturbance in an open-planarea is usually speech. Decreasing sound levels in a room usually means the use of a sound absorbing
acoustic product. However, a lot of products usually have a fixed performance for a specific frequency
range, have no possibility of tuning them to specific frequencies, and sometimes permanently fixed
thus is hard to re-use the same products in another space. Last but not least, very few acoustic products
have a high aesthetic quality.
By choosing a sound-absorbing principle based on the shape of the absorber and tuning at specificfrequencies for high performance offers freedom not only for the acoustic treatment of different spaces
but also for the design of the product. The main objective of this research is to develop a design for afree-standing sound absorbing product based on the quarter-wavelength tube principle. Specifically,
the design focuses on the production of a series of units that aim at frequencies between 400Hz – 1000
Hz, taking into consideration that the frequency range that is dominating in the A-weighted speech
level is 500-100Hz [4]. This frequency range is selected by considering the range of the human voice
but because higher frequencies can easily be treated with porous absorbers.

1
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ioanna.christia@gmail.com{m.j.tenpierik; f.setaki; m.bilow} @tudelft.nl4513

2. METHODOLOGY
2.1

TheoryThe development of the absorber design bases on the results of research, more specifically acomparison between theory and measurements. The working principle of sound absorption in tube
resonators is based on the resonance of the air inside the tube. The tubes have an open and an open orclosed end and usually have a uniform shape along their length. In the tubes with both open ends andlength=L, the energy of a standing wave with wavelength (Ȝ) =2L is attenuated at the node at L/2. For
the tubes with a closed end, a sound wave entering one of these tubes will travel to the closed end andbe reflected back to the other side where it arrives opposite in phase to the oncoming wave in the pipe.
This interference between the two waves determines where peaks in attenuation appear; friction along
the pipe walls creates viscothermal damping. Tube resonators are also called half orquarter-wavelength resonators, since the maximum absorption takes place when a half (2open ends) orquarter (1 open, 1 closed end), and odd multiples, of the acoustic wavelength are equal to theresonator’s length. The optimal tube length (Leff ) for a quarter wavelength tube can be determinedeasily from Eq. (1).

fres

2n  1 c
4 Leff(1)

Where,
f res is the resonance frequency [Hz], n is any integer starting from 1 and c is the speed of sound in air[m/s]
As mentioned before, the resonator’s length determines the main frequencies at which sound isabsorbed, and the resonator radius and the ratio of hole/surface of the panel determine the height andthe width of the absorption peaks. Due to inlet effects the effective length of the resonator is larger than
the actual length. Therefore an end correction is added to the geometrical length of the tube. This effecthas been studied extensively for different configurations of the entrance of the tube. The end
correction depends on the local geometry at the entrance and ending of the tube. The effective length
Leff is the geometrical length L increased by a small increment d [5]. The increment d for a single tube
with the opening in an infinite baffle is equal to:

d8R
3S(2)

Where,
R is the radius of the tube [m]If the tube is open on both sides, the end correction is applied on both sides [6]. For a perforated
panel that is equally distributed by a distance Į [m] the end correction for each side is:

d8RR(1  0.44 )3Sa(3)

This means that L eff =L+d, so according to whether we deal with a single tube or a perforated panel,a different d (eq.2 or eq.3) is taken into account.
This research contains two different steps. First, the theory of quarter wavelength tubes attenuationis translated into a Matlab script based on the theory of viscothermal wave propagation in prismatic tubes[7]. This script is then used to calculate how different tubes and combinations of tubes can be combined tocreate a certain desired absorption spectrum. At the same time, measurements on samples including
different quarter wavelength tubes were conducted in an impedance tube B&K 4206 at the Faculty ofArchitecture and the Built Environment of the TU Delft, according to EN ISO 11654 [8], tube diameter
10cm; and the outcomes are used for the design development. The impedance tube is chosen because of thecontrolled conditions it provides and the need of small samples that are easy to manufacture. On the other
hand the results are not representative of the performance of a bigger sample and are based only on normal
incidence sound absorption.

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2.2 Results
The simulations/tests are organized in terms of different tube materials and geometries. The basicmaterials used are drinking straws. Since here quarter wavelength tubes are investigated, one end had
to be capped. The other (open) end was placed in a 1cm thick MDF cylinder to be able to seal thesurface airtight around it. The aim is to have results as close to theory as possible and use the outcomes
for the design decisions. Below a selection of the results are shown.
The thickness of the plastic material of the tube doesn’t seem to influence the absorption performanceof the drinking straw, as shown in Figure 1. Small differences of 6 Hz-7 Hz might be resulting from the1-2 mm of length difference of the two.
Sample 1

length: 125 mm
material: plastic
thickness: 0.15mm
inner radius: 3.25 mm

Sample 2

length: 125 mm
material: plastic
thickness: 0.05mm
inner radius: 3.25 mm

Figure 1 – different straw thicknesses
The performance of an extendable straw with corrugations is compared to a rigid one in Figure 2.
Also this does not seem to influence the absorption performance of the tube. The difference in the peakfrequency comes from the inaccuracy in determining the length of sample 1. For this reason extendable
straws are not further used in the design proposal.
Sample 1

length: 143 mm
material: plastic
thickness: 0.10 mm
inner radius: 2.7 mm

Sample 2

length: 143 mm
material: plastic
thickness: 0.10mm
inner radius: 2.7mm

Figure 2 – different straw lengths
A cardboard and a plastic straw were compared in Figure 3. The performance doesn’t seem to be
influenced. The 18 Hz of difference correspond to 5 mm of different lengths which might be because of
manufacturing inaccuracies.

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Sample 1

length: 143 mm
material: cardboard
thickness: 0.10mm
inner radius: 2.7mm

Sample 2Length: 143mm
material: plastic
thickness: 0.10mm
inner radius: 2.7mm

Figure 3 – different materials
Aiming at the wanted frequency and making the absorption curve as high and wide as possible are
the two factors that need to be controlled in a design and optimization process of multiple quarter
wavelength tubes. The targeted frequency is easily controlled by the length of the tube and to a minor
extent its radius. The peak value and the width of the curve can be controlled by either choosing theappropriate radius or the appropriate number of resonators within a given surface area.
Combining tubes with different lengths allows for achieving broadband absorption, as shown inFigure 4. The small peak around 550 Hz is an inaccuracy from the sample preparation. The peak of 700
Hz is missing from the sample curve. Possible reasons likely are inaccuracies during themanufacturing process.

Samplelengths: 115, 110, 105,100, 95, 90 mm
material: plastic
inner radius: 3.5mmnumber of resonators: 6Figure 4 – broad (er) band absorption
By increasing the number of tubes tested the absorption performance increases as it is shown inFigure 5. The sample contained 12 groups of drinking straws. Every group consists of 7 straws tunedin every frequency between the range of 400 Hz- 950 Hz with 50 Hz of interval. This configuration isshown only as theoretical result since it wasn’t possible to be measured with accuracy. The sample isonly shown with the purpose of showing the arrangement of the straws.

Samplelengths: 213, 189, 170,155, 142, 131, 121, 113,
106, 100, 94, 89 mm
material: plastic
inner radius: 3.5mm
number of resonators:
12groups x 7pca

Figure 5 – broadband absorption4516

2.3 Design guidelines
Based on the measurements’ results it is decided to make a prototype using thin plastic translucent
drinking straws of 7 mm diameter. The choice of radius and material was defined by the availability ofthe material within the time limit. The targeted frequency is defined by the straw’s length and theamount of the absorption is defined by the ratio of resonators on a surface and the radius of the straw.
In figure 6 it is shown how the radius influences the performance of a tube with length L=0,138 m,in a sample with cylindrical surface of a radius r=0,05 m. Figure 7 presents the variation in absorption
depending on different amount of resonators, all of them with length L=0,138 m, also in a sample withcylindrical surface of a radius r=0,05 m. In both cases there is an optimum size of radius/number ofresonators after which the performance starts to decrease.

Figure 6 – radii variance

Figure 7 – number of resonators influence

Plastic and cardboard behaved similarly; however, plastic is preferred for the prototype since it
offers the translucency effect and can be easily recycled or reused. A rigid design of the straw ispreferred so as a higher accuracy in the manufacturing procedure can be achieved.

Figure 8 – prototype
Regarding the arrangement of the tubes, the design idea is to arrange them in groups of the samelength. Figures 9, 10, 11 show that the straws with the same length are organized in the same way as thesamples were tested (Figure 5, 10) but in the final model the scale is bigger (Figure 11).

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Figure 9 – different straw lengths

Figure 10 – sample scale

Figure 11 – increased scale

The design proposal has direct connection to the chosen acoustic principle, meaning the use oftubes. The quarter-wavelength tubes need to be closed from one side while the half-wavelength tubes
are open from both sides. This information translated into the manufacturing process means that three
separate investigations need to take place: the tubes, the way to seal them and the supporting structure.
The main target is to save material by making a light, self-supported and low-cost product.
As far as the tubes are concerned, they can be easily massively produced with custom dimensions.
Considering that the design addresses a product, the aesthetic value is important. The product issupposed to be used in an interior environment, as a room divider. This means that it needs to provide
the users with private space as well as to keep the visual contact. For achieving a screening effectthough the sound insulation of the buildup needs further investigation. Open tubes allow a part of lightto transfer from one side to the other side of the panel. If a translucent material is also used, this effectis stronger. Last but not least, one of the aims for the design is to allow for re-use of the product in adifferent space. For this reason no permanent or chemical adhesive is included in the design process.
This is important for the design process as the chosen material and the procedure should support thenecessary tolerance for integrated connections.

3. Design
3.1 Customizability
According to different acoustic needs of each space, it is possible to have different configurations.
Depending on the location of the panel (whether it behaves as a space divider or is put in front of awall), it is possible to use either the quarter wavelength or half wavelength principle. In practice, thedifference is that half wavelength tubes are longer but easier to manufacture since they don’t need aclose end.
Below there are examples of proposals according to the placement of the panel and the acousticperformance. The targeted frequencies have a 25 Hz interval, in order to decrease the fluctuations ofthe curves.
Figure 12 shows a combination of units that can be put in front of a wall which has quite abroadband absorption in the low to mid frequencies. This means that the maximum thickness of thesurface is almost 30 cm. Quarter wavelength tubes are used in combination with half wavelength tubes
in order to create a more interesting visual effect.

¼ wavelength tubes, open side
½ wavelength tubes
Figure 12 – design proposal

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¼ wavelength tubes, closed side
¼ wavelength tubes, open side
½ wavelength tubes
Figure 13 – indicative designThe maximum thickness is 24cm and the acoustic principles used are quarter wavelength tubes forfrequencies 350Hz-650Hz and half wavelength tubes for frequencies 700Hz-850Hz. The combinationof the two principles gives the advantage of two different visual effects, as the quarter wavelength
tubes are closed from one side and the half wavelength tubes are open from both sides.

Figure 14 – possible spatial arrangements
3.2 Assembly
The assembly procedure of the big hexagon of 19 units includes the construction of a frame byMDF stripes and metal splits (steps 1-4). As soon as the right shape is made the straws are put in theframe, and the basic form of a 19-unit hexagon is created. In this form the panels are transported to thespace of application, where they can be connected with other hexagons by industrial Velcro tape.

Figure 15 – assembly steps

4. CONCLUSIONSThis paper presented a design concept for a sound absorbing unit based on the quarter and half
wavelength tube principle by using a material that is designed for a different purpose.
During literature study, absorbers were further researched as an appropriate approach for
decreasing sound levels in mid-high in open-plan offices. Quarter wavelength and half wave length
tubes were the acoustic principles further developed due to the high absorption values that can beachieved, the tuning at specific frequencies, fast and low-cost manufacturing process as well as highaesthetical value. In order to define the performance of the drinking straws, the results from two4519

different approaches were compared. A theoretical model in Matlab was developed that can predict theabsorption performance of quarter wavelength tubes. At the same time sets of measurements wereperformed with the impedance tube and then the results are compared to the theory. By conducting
various measurements it was confirmed that it is possible to make a prediction with a theoretical modelin Matlab for design studies. The different materials tested, like plastic tubes with different thicknesses
and cardboard, didn’t seem to influence the performance of the tubes, according to the theory.
Combining tubes with different lengths opens up the possibility of creating a broadband absorber. At
the same time, the amount of tubes used for the same surface can influence the absorption performanceof the absorber, so according to the frequency range targeted and the desired amount of drinking straws
it is possible that a different optimized configuration can be created. Absorption values as high as Į=1
can be achieved by optimizing the ratio between number of resonators and radius of the drinking
straws. By decreasing also the interval between the targeted frequencies, a more smooth absorption
curve can be achieved.
With further research it is possible to facilitate more the assembly procedure by substituting thedrinking straws with honeycomb plates that probably behave in the same way in terms of acoustics but
will create blocks that are more robust and easier to stack.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The rights of the project are owned by TU Delft, where it was realized during my master studies.
With further research and assistance, Level Acoustics & Vibration has also offered a lot of support, soa special thanks to Susanne Bron-van der Jagt and Remy Wenmaekers.

REFERENCES
1. F. D. Becker, Workspace, Creating Environments in Organisations, New York: N.Y. : Praeger, 1981.
2. E. S. M. Sundstrom, Work places: the psychology of the physical environment in offices and factories,Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
3. J. Kim and R. de Dear, "Workspace satisfaction: The privacy-communication trade-off in open-planoffices," Journal of Environmental Phsychology, no. 36, pp. 18-26, December 2013.
4. "ISO 3382-3:2012 : Acoustics- Measurement of room acoustic parameters - Part 3: Open plan offices".
5. J. Rayleigh, The theory of sound, New York: Dover, 1945.
6. F. van der Eerden, "Noise reduction with coupled prismatic tubes," University of Twente, Enschede, theNetherlands, November 2000.
7. C. Zwikker and W. Kosten, Sound absorbing materials, New York: Elsevier Pub. Co., 1949.
8. "ISO 11654:1997 - Acoustics - Sound absorbers for use in buildings - Rating of sound absorption".
9. T. Cox and P. D'Antonio, Acoustic absorbers and diffusers : Theory, design and application, London:
Taylor & Francis, 2002.

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