Researchers, Designer Develop Lighter Sound-Absorbing Fabric

Sound-absorbing curtains (EMPA)

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (French acronym EMPA), along with a silk weaving company and textile designer, have developed lightweight, translucent curtain materials that absorb room noise. The Swiss textile maker Weisbrod-Zürrer AG and designer Annette Douglas were part of the team.

Sound absorbing surfaces that decrease sound wave reverberation are needed in rooms where people work, talk to each other, or are just trying to relax. However, common interior materials such as glass and concrete absorb little if any sound. Interior designers, up to now, have had to rely on heavy materials such as velvet to absorb sound, which reduce available light and limit their design options.

Douglas initiated the idea of developing lighter, thinner, and even translucent, materials that absorb noise. She and acoustical experts at EMPA developed a mathematical model to design a virtual textile that met the weight limitations, lighting properties, and sound-absorption criteria. The model specified the fabric’s microscopic structure and macroscopic composition.

Douglas then used these factors to develop weaving techniques, which involved yarns that gave the materials the necessary characteristics in terms of flammability and translucence, which led to her  determining the precise structure and pattern of the weave. Weisbrod-Zürrer used these specifications to turn out sample materials.

After testing and further modeling, the team was able to optimize the acoustical properties of the fabric. Douglas says the new curtains absorb five times more sound than conventional translucent curtains.

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