The most prevalent fabric used to cover the fiberglass is woven polyester, which is acoustically transparent and extremely easy to work with. The acoustic panel edges will frequently be specified to be hardened by impregnating the edge with a polyester resin or be framed with an aluminum edge molding. In today’s market this is redundant and only serves to increase the cost and at the same time reduce the potential acoustic performance of the soundproofing panel.
When fiberglass acoustical panels were first introduced into the market several years ago, the fiberglass acoustical core was produced principally by Fiberglass of Canada and had an in-line sanding capability to produce a smooth face surface to which decorative fabrics could easily be bonded to. Unfortunately, the fiberglass board produced in Canada was a very short fibered board, which was subject to edge damage during the fabrication process.
To solve this problem, the edges were impregnated with a polyester resin which when cured produced a hardened edge to prevent crushing of the edge. New technology used by fiberglass manufacturers in the US is now able to provide a flat smooth face surface suitable for the lamination of fabric finishes to the soundproofing panel surface.
When fabric lamination is not desirable and when more custom sizes or longer lengths are required, a track system can be used which allows any size or length of fabric to be stretched over a framework.
This also allows for the use of more desirable and environmentally friendly sound absorption material made from recycled, “Green” or “LEED” credit contributing products such as Echo Eliminator recycled cotton or Sound Silencer PEPP rather than fiberglass. Echo Eliminator, Sound Silencer and the track system are available from Acoustical Surfaces Inc.
The fiberglass cores used in the US today are long-fibered resilient fiberglass mats that are sufficiently resilient to withstand abuse and crushing while still being able to be machined to produce a variety of edge profiles.