Experimental and numerical investigations on melamine wedges

Melamine wedges are often used as acoustic lining material for anechoic chambers. It was proposed here to study the effects of the mounting conditions on the acoustic properties of the melamine wedges used in the large anechoic chamber at the LMA. The results of the impedance tube measurements carried out show that the mounting conditions must be taken into account when assessing the quality of an acoustic lining. As it can be difficult to simulate these mounting conditions in impedance tube experiments, a numerical method was developed, which can be used to complete the experiments or for parametric studies. By combining the finite and the boundary element method, it is possible to investigate acoustic linings with almost no restrictions as to the geometry, material behavior, or mounting conditions. The numerical method presented here was used to study the acoustic properties of the acoustic lining installed in the anechoic chamber at the LMA. Further experiments showed that the behavior of the melamine foam is anisotropic. Numerical simulations showed that this anisotropy can be used to advantage when designing an acoustic lining.