A Pilot Study on the Sound Absorption Characteristics of Chicken Feathers as an Alternative Sustainable Acoustical Material

This communication reports the results of a pilot study on the sound absorption characteristics of chicken feathers (CFs). Recently, demands for natural and sustainable materials have been extensively studied for acoustical purposes. CF has long been left wasted, however, they can be used for sound-absorbing purposes to improve acoustical environments as a sustainable and green acoustical material. In order to clarify their feasibility, samples of CF absorbers of various densities and thicknesses were prepared, and their sound absorption coefficients were measured by the standard impedance tube method. The measured results were also compared with those of conventional glass wools of the same densities and thicknesses. The results show that CFs have potentially good sound-absorption performance, which is similar to typical fibrous materials: increasing with frequency. Results of direct comparison with glass wool demonstrate that the absorption coefficients of CFs are comparable and, at some frequencies, somewhat higher than conventional glass wools in some cases. Additionally, the first step for searching a prediction method for the sound absorption performance of CFs, their flow resistivity was measured and a Delany–Bazley–Miki model was examined. However, the resultant flow resistivity was unexpectedly low, and the model gave only a much lower value than that measured. The reason for the discrepancies is the subject of a future study.