Engineering Physics International Conference, EPIC 2016

CSR (Coco Shell Resonator) Unique design resonator from

coco shell waste for Acoustic Performance
Susilo Indrawatia, Suyatnoa
Lecturer of Physics Department, ITS Surabaya 60111, Indonesia

Abstract

Coco shell is waste that spread all over Indonesia, especially in Surabaya. Coco shell is rarely utilized, thus
create a lot of waste. Recently, coco shell waste has been gaining popularity because of its unique and strong shape.
A lot of craft man has been using coco shell as a decoration. Coco shell unique shape has been utilized into coconut
mosaic; a furniture decoration. This research will utilize coco shell as an acoustic tile, specifically resonator, so that
coco shell has a better value. Coco shell used will be a young coco shell, since its a rarely utilized waste. The resonator
will be tested in regard of its ability to absorb and scatter sound. The test will be using ISO 354. The objective of this
research is to make a resonator that not only have a value in room acoustic, but also special aesthetically pleasing.
Room acoustics prefers to any room that need a treatment regarding acoustics, as in music studio room, broadcasting
room, praying room, home theatre, music room etc

2016 The Authors. Published by Elsvier Ltd.

Keywords: Coco shell resonator, acoustic room, acoustic tile, resonator

1. Introduction

Indonesia is a country that have one of the largest coconut trees plantation in the world. But its a
shame that Indonesia couldnt make coconut farmer prosper. Its different from Philipine where even
though the total area of coconut plantation is smaller than Indonesia, they make more income than
Indonesia. On 2015, philipine generate US $ 757.3 millions export value from coconut, where Indonesia
only generate US $ 228.7 millions (kompasiana 19 juni 2015). Philipine generate much more export than
Indonesia because they managed to divesify their coconut product
One of the processed product from coconut is coconut shell. Coconut shell briquette charcoal is
one of the processed product from coconut shell that become a prime export commodity. In the hand of
crafter, coconut shell can be made into bag, desk lamp, and decoration. Lately, coconut shell can be made
into high price product such as coconut mosaic which roughly priced at 65 US $ per square meter. But
even though its high value, its only from aesthetic point of view.
Nursalam aslam (2015)[2] made an acoustic diffuser wall panel from a coconut shell. Just like
coconut mosaic, the research of the panel did not cover the acoustic characteristic such as their ability to
scatter sound wave. Because of that, the panel only have aesthetic value, and did not have a proven
acoustic value yet.
This research will make an acoustic resonator panel from a young coconut shell. Young coconut
shell is chosen because its rarely used and only became a waste. Young coconut shell is then sorted based
on their size, and will be studied on their ability to absorb and scatter sound wave. The shell is processed
into hemispherical shape which then fitted into a board in convex and concave position. The acoustic
panel made is hoped to have aesthetic value as well as acoustic value.
On B. J Smith book, the material absorption value can be calculated using the relation between
room reverberation time before and after the material are placed inside the room. The equation is based
on sabine reverberation time:
1 1
= 0,16 ( ) 1
2 1
Where:
: diffuser absorption coefficient
V : reverberation room volum (m3)
A : material size (m2)
T1 : room reverberation time without material (sekon)
T2 : room reverberation time with material and spinning table (sekon)
 In addition to absorption coefficient, sound pressure level is also measured to determine the scattering
pattern of the acoustic panel. The panel measured is not only the convex and concave position, but also a
perforated coconut shell in convex position.

2. The object of the study (Model, Process, Device, Sample preparation etc.)

As stated before, the material used in the resonator is young coconut shell. Since coconut shell is a
natural material, the shape and size is varied between shells. The material is then handled in the same way
as possible. The coconut is dried and cleaned form the leftover fiber, then cut into a shape with 10cm
diameter and 4cm tall. The processed coconut shells is as shown bellow:

Gambar 1. Difuser yang terbuat dari tempurung kelapa muda a. cembung b. cekung

The sample for absorption coeffient measuring is in 1,5 m by 1,5 m size. The size is refered to coefficient
measuring based on ISO 354 where for a room with 300 m3 volum the material size is 3 m by 3 m, since
the reverberation room used have 150 m3 volum, then the material size is half, 1,5 m by 1,5 m. To
determine the scattering pattern the material is arranged in 0,6 m by 0,6 m size. The sample manufacture
is refering to measuring method by Fang-Ming-Lin (2010) [3].

3. Methods

This research begin with problem recognition then literature study. After sufficient literature study, the
research then advanced into data acquisition stage. YMEC sound measurement software full system is
used in this research, which are consisted of 3 programs, realtime analyzer; sound analyzer and
environmental Noise Analizer.
Equipment like sound level meter, Loudspeaker and amplifier, also software installed in the computer
then can be used to do data acquisition. On this research, there are two kind of measuring. The first kind
is reverberation time measuring to determine the material absorption coefficient. The second kind is sound
pressure level measuring to determine the scattering pattern of the panel made.
3.1 Reverberation Time Measuring
Reverberation time measuring in this research is based on Acoustics- Measurement of sound
Absorption in a Reverberation Room, International Standard, ISO 354-1985 as close as possible. Since
theres no reverberation room matched the ISO 354 standard in ITS, theres a lot of method by Carlisle
and hooker (2004)[4] that replicated in this research. Reverberation time measured to determine sound
absorption coefficient value. The measuring is done at the reverberation room in Laboratorium
instrumentasi fisika bangunan on jurusan Fisika FMIPA ITS. The room is 140,058 m 3. The measuring
methods is as shown bellow:
 Gambar 1. Pengukuran waktu dengung

Data acquisition is done by measuring room reverberation time before and after the treated material
placed inside the room. To get the room reverberation time, impulsive sound source is needed, which in
this case is using a loudspeaker. The impulsive sound is from YMEC software. The impulsive sound
behavior is captured by the microphone that send it to the computer that been installed with YMEC
software. YMEC then process the signal and separated the reverberation time into octave band. From the
reverberation time data acquired, the absorption coefficient then can be calculated using equation 1. The
measurement is done before and after the material is inside the room.

3.2 Scattering Pattern Measuring

Scattering pattern measuring is different from the previous method. This method only measure the
sound pressure level in front of the panel (see figure 2). Measurement is done by measuring the sound
pressure level in front of the panel at a certain angle from the panel. The angle used is from 0 to 180 ,
with 10 increment. At each angle, the sound level meter is positioned between a loudspeaker and a panel
with fixed distance. The sound pressure level is measured by turning on a sound from the fixed loudspeaker
and then the data from the sound level meter is recorded using YMEC software. At some angle a
background noise measured by cutting down the sound source completely. The steps are similar for all
materials, where the measurement is taken before and after the materials are place inside the semi-anechoic
room. The differences between the sound pressure level before and after the materials are placed then
calculated to acquire the scattering pattern.

Gambar 2 pengukuran pola hamburan diffuser

This method are adopted from Trevor Jcox [5] research regarding the measurement method. The semi-
anechoic room used size is 3,5m by 5,9m by 3,2m, so the distance between the diffuser and the microphone
is 1,8m and the distance between the diffuser and the speaker is 21,8 which is 3,6.

4. Results and Discussion

This research used two measurement methods. The first method is to determine absorption coefficient
using reverberation room method, while the second is to determine the scattering pattern using anechoic
room.
4.1 Measurement of absorption coefficient

This measurement using method reverberation chamber standart ISO 354-1985, the data is reverberation
time. The reverberation time measured before and after the material is placed inside the room. Absorption
coefficient using Sabine equation (1). The measurement results are shown below:

Table 1. Absorption coefficient value ()

Frequency (Hz) Absorption coefficient value ()

Convex shell Concave shell
125 0.06 0.02
250 0.10 0.13
500 0.28 0.23
1000 0.70 0.03
2000 0.11 0.12
4000 0.21 0.06
We can see from the table that the value for the convex and caoncave shell have big difference on
1000Hz frequency. For the convex shell, the value at 1000 Hz is 0.7, this means that the shell absorb
70% of the sound at 1000 Hz. Its very different for the concave shell, where the value only 0.03 which
mean only 3% of the sound absorb. It can be concluded that if a room have a problem at 1000 Hz
frequency then convex shell can be used to absorb. So as can be concluded that if a space has a problem
but especially at a frequency of 1000 Hz , for example, want to absorb the energy that comes at a
frequency of 1000 Hz , the acoustic panels can be used in the form of a convex shell with the
arrangement .

4.2 Comparison scattering patterns

The second measurement is scattering pattern measurement. The panels measured are:
a. Convex shell acoustic panel Panel akustik berupa tempurung cembung
b. Concave shell acoustic panel Panel akustik berupa tempurung cekung
c. Perforated convex acoustic shell Panel akustik berupa tempurung cembung yang dilubangi
d. Perforated concave acoustic shell filled with sugarcane pulp Panel akustik berupa tempurung
cembung yang dilubangi dengan isi ampas tebu.
The measuring is using anechoic room method. The anechoic room used is the semi anechoic room at
jurusan Fisika FMIPA ITS at the Laboratorium instrumentasi Fisika bangunan.
To make easy the analysis of the scattering patterns, discussion of the scattering pattern is divided into
three sub-topics.
4.2.1 Comparison scattering pattern for the shell convex diffuser
To complete the study results, the following data are presented SPL sound came, combination of sounds
come and reflection, as well as the reflected sound in the form of polar graph which more easy to read.
 he data taken is a diffuser with a convex shell shape.

Gambar 3. Pola hamburan tempurung cembung a. frekuensi 1000 Hz b. frekuensi 2000 Hz

Based on data from the measurement results we can see that the scattering pattern at a frequency of 1000
Hz is more balance when compared to 2000 Hz. So that we can conclude that if there is a room that
requires special treatment regarding the scattering at a frequency of 1000 Hz, convex shell could be an
alternative because besides being able to reduce the energy but juga it is not change the pattern too much.

4.2.2 Comparison of the scattering pattern for a diffuser in the form of convex and concave.
This discussion has previously been done a comparison in that the absorption coefficient for a frequency
of 1000 Hz acoustic panels which have significant differences. For that to be seen in more detail when
seen from the scattering pattern. Below are shown the results of the scattering pattern for convex
acoustic panel and concave shell at a frequency of 1000 Hz.

Figure 4. Comparison of the scattering pattern of acoustic panels

in the form of convex and concave shell at a frequency of 1000 Hz
The results obtained from the scattering pattern at get that in accordance with the value of the absorption
coefficient obtained previously for acoustic panels are more reflective is the concave shell, so when in use
in a room can increase the energy because it is a reflector.
4.2.3 Comparison scattering patterns for the diffuser shell in the form of convex, convex shell
perforated and perforated convex on the contents of absorber materials

Based on the results of previous results in the form of acoustic panels in the form of a convex shell is
absorbs especially at a frequency of 1000 Hz. For the next step will be the pattern hamburannya when
given perforation / hole on the panel. The hole that is used has a diameter of 10 mm. after perforation is
then seen dissipating effect on the sound. Below are shown the scattering pattern for the frequency of
1000 Hz (Figure 5 )
 a

b c

Figure 5. Pattern scattering acoustic panels

a. convex shell b . convex shell berporosi c . berporosi convex shell with the contents of bagasse
From the results obtained above in mind when added perforations obtained scattering patterns more
evenly. While the addition of bagasse pattern has not changed much scatter, only the amplitude is
smaller, which means more absorption.

5. Conclusion

In this study, we can conclude that the absorption coefficient for convex shell has a greater value,
especially at a frequency of 1000 Hz is equal to 0.70. while the shell has a concave 0.03 absorption
coefficient . For the scattering pattern is inversely proportional to the value of the absorption coefficient
absorption coefficient is a great cause scattering patterns much smaller the value of SPL. For additional
holes on the convex shell causes scattering patterns more evenly while the addition of bagasse lead to
the same scattering pattern only SPL reduced amplitude .
Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the ITS university especially LPPM (lembaga penelitian dan
pengabdian masyarakat) ITS and PNBP for their support of the work reported in this articl.

References

Here is an example of some references listed according to the sequential numeric system:

[1] (kompasiana 19 juni 2015).

[2] Nur salam (2015)
[3] Fang-Mig-Lin , pei-Yu hong, Chia-yen Lee. An experimental investigation into the sound-scattering performance of wooden
diffusers with different structutres (2010). Applied Acoustics Elsevier ScienciDirect
[4] Carlisle, E J. Hooker, R.j (2004) Small chamber reverberant absorption Measurement Proceedings of Acoustics, Australia
[5] Trevor . J. Cox, Acoustic absorbers and diffusers : theory, design and application second edition Spoon Press: London (2004)