Sound barrier applications of recycled plastics

An innovative noise wall design that uses recycled plastic and takes advantage of multilayering to increase stiffness and sound effectiveness is proposed and analyzed. Prototypes of the proposed design were constructed and tested for sound transmission to determine their effectiveness and show the desirability of a multilayered approach. The results show that, acoustically, the transmission loss of the proposed design is as effective as traditional designs. Furthermore, finite element analyses as well as an analytical model developed specifically for recycled plastics indicate that, structurally, the proposed design can increase spans between posts resulting in a design that is potentially more economical than current designs. Results of material tests conducted in support of the analytical model and noise wall development are also discussed.