Correlation between specific gas permeability and sound absorption coefficient in solid wood

Correlations were found between specific gas permeability values and sound absorption coefficients in five solid wood (poplar,beech,walnut,mulberry and fir) with different specimen lengths and directions (longitudinal and tangential). permeability was measured in 10- and 50-mm long longitudinal as well as 10-mm long tangential specimens. absorption coefficients were also measured at four frequencies,namely,800,1000,2000 and 4000 hz. high correlation was observed in 50-mm long longitudinal specimens between specific gas permeability and absorption coefficients at different frequencies. however,insignificant correlations were observed in10-mm long specimens,both in longitudinal and tangential directions. mulberry showed the lowest absorption coefficient. cluster analysis showed that mulberry had different clustering from the other four species. © 2014 forest research institute malaysia.