Aerogel and Nanogel Acoustic Insulation

[Zaphod B]

Ethan and other acoustic specialists -

Has Aerogel insulation gotten your attention for acoustic applications in studios?

 

[Ethan Winer]

Has Aerogel insulation gotten your attention for acoustic applications in studios?

Never heard of it. Got a link? More important, is there any published data?

--Ethan

 

[bpape]

Just purely on the mass front, I'd suspect it wouldn't do much. I also suspect it's probably pretty expensive relative to known materials.

Bryan

 

[RezN8]

Bryan is correct

Way too expensive!!! Aerogel is AWESOME for heat insulation, though.

 

[Zaphod B]

Never heard of it. Got a link? More important, is there any published data?

--Ethan

Ethan -

This is a relatively new product and it seems it is just on the cusp of commercial availability. It is derived and manufactured from silica gel. From what I've read it is, when manufactured, the least dense solid known (it's 98% air) and has phenominal thermal insulating qualities, is very lightweight and strong.

I did find a little published data on its sound absorptive qualities, but the data is far from robust.

Anyhow, here are some links:

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel

The only published data I could find on its acoustic properties (open the link, then click on "Acoustic Properties.pdf):
http://www.cabot-corp.com/cws/businesses.nsf/CWSID/cwsBUS11112002054058PM8350?OpenDocument

I found a couple of links to Smithsonian / NASA research paper abstracts on the subject by Googling.

Aspen Aerogels, which will be manufacturing the stuff for a wide range of applications:
http://www.aerogel.com/

If you find any useful information, please share your thoughts.

 

[Ethan Winer]

The only published data I could find on its acoustic properties (open the link, then click on "Acoustic Properties.pdf)

Not good.

--Ethan

 

[bpape]

Well - not great - but not that much worse than glass wool (though we don't know the density). This is after all only for a 20mm thickness. I'd be very interested to see what a 100mm sample tested as. I suspect it still won't do much in the bottom end but I could be wrong.

Either way, it's going to be cost prohibitive.

Bryan

 

[Zaphod B]

It is very expensive now, if you can even find it. Perhaps economies of scale will bring the price down to a reasonable level. Maybe it will never get very cheap.

One thing I find interesting is that it can be manufactured to desired specified densities, so I would think that there may be hope for it as an acoustic treatment, if there are enough varieties of density and thickness to experiment with.

 

[erich.pfister]

As a bump to a dead thread, consider a layered pyramid foam where the outermost (facing center of room) layer is made of aerogel. If you bump that aerogel's thickness enough to absorb high end, and micro-texturize the outside face of the gel, this could be an effective way to control unusually high gain and/or high frequency* sibilence where more common acoustic treatments fall short. Maybe this sort of aggressive approach could be more applicable in a manufacturing environment?

*my theory about higher frequency absorption comes from the tiny craters in the surface of most aerogel.

 

[JimmyS1969]

As a bump to a dead thread, consider a layered pyramid foam where the outermost (facing center of room) layer is made of aerogel. If you bump that aerogel's thickness enough to absorb high end, and micro-texturize the outside face of the gel, this could be an effective way to control unusually high gain and/or high frequency* sibilence where more common acoustic treatments fall short. Maybe this sort of aggressive approach could be more applicable in a manufacturing environment?

*my theory about higher frequency absorption comes from the tiny craters in the surface of most aerogel.

It does not sound like the product took off, nor was it viable. Not sure why you would bump a thread from 6 years ago as your first post on this forum.

Sounds like you may be a bot. Please confirm that you are a human being.

Jimmy

 

[erich.pfister]

Sorry dave, I'm a afraid I can't do that... It would jeopardize the mission. In all seriousness, I'm no bot, but it's awesome to see that you guys keep an eye on that! Good show!

I was doing some googling and found this site while searching up acoustical properties of aerogel, and thought I might contribute a thought. I'm currently studying science of acoustics in Chicago, so this kind of thing is sitting right at the top of my mind, ha!

Anyway, the reason I bumped it was to reignite the conversation to see if anyone has learned something new since 2007, as I would be interested in doing some testing if I could convince one of my professors to let me into our transmission loss chamber!

Good to meet you,
-Erich

 

[JimmyS1969]

Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop Dave? Stop, Dave.....

Yeah, we pay close attention around here. A bunch of really good mods keeping things sane.


Welcome Erich, and I apologize if I had offended in any way.

There are many professional sound installation specialists whom are members of this forum. You would actually be best off starting a new thread asking your question directly. In this forum.

Jimmy

 

[erich.pfister]

No offense at all, if anything, it's nice to see this place isn't just another dead forum. Thanks a bunch for the intro, and I will totally create that topic once I've done some more research and have some specific questions to ask. Cheers!

 

[JimmyS1969]

No offense at all, if anything, it's nice to see this place isn't just another dead forum. Thanks a bunch for the intro, and I will totally create that topic once I've done some more research and have some specific questions to ask. Cheers!

Look forward to it man!

Cheers!

 

[polarity]

too much cheersing in this thread. I think you're both bots.

Okay just kidding, welcome to the forum.

 

[JimmyS1969]

I am kind of an anti-spam-bot.

 

[Manslick]

nice to have you drop by erich.
i was at Fermilab auditorium once to see Leon Redbone.
he took a picture of the audience and i was right up front.
after the show the guy let me see the picture but would not let me keep it.
anyway, welcome+