Use of cork sheets for room acoustic correction

Cork is a sustainable material and at the end of its useful life it can be disposed of into the environment without causing damage. This paper analyzes an acoustic correction system made of cork sheets mounted at an opportune distance from the walls inside a room. The cork sheets have a thickness equal to 1.5 mm. The sound absorption coefficients of the cork sheets were initially evaluated by mounting samples inside an impedance tube, then creating a back cavity at a suitable distance from a rigid wall. The distances considered were: 3, 5, 10 and 15 cm. A room used as an office with a volume of about 90 m3 and plastered walls was considered as a case-study. In this type of environment, suitable acoustic comfort conditions are required. The acoustic characteristics were analyzed through a virtual model with an architectural acoustics software in an empty room and then with the introduction of sound-absorbing cork sheets. Measurements of the acoustic characteristics of the empty room were taken and subsequently with the walls lined with cork panels mounted at a distance of 3.0 cm from the rigid rear wall. A configuration was analyzed, in line with what was carried out in the numerical model, covering a surface of 5m2 of the room. The results of the numerical simulations as well as the experimental measurements are discussed.