  Noise pollution has attracted a wide attention due to its negative effect on
human health, and many researchers are working on proposing strategies or
developing new materials to improve acoustic performance of structures and
building materials. Meanwhile, the worldwide emphasis on sustainable
development has motivated the development and application of bio-mass materials
in every field, including the engineering construction. The purpose of this
study is to measure and investigate the performance of a structure-used glued
laminated bamboo (Glubam) and spruce-pine-fir (SPF) as soundproof or
sound-absorbing materials. The impedance tube method was used to measure the
sound reduction index and sound absorption coefficient of glubam and SPF in the
lab. After doing some comparison studies, it can be found that glubam and SPF
have good performance in sound insulation but behave weakly in sound
absorption, and glubam exhibits similar even better acoustic properties than
SPF. Moreover, a finite element model was built up using ABAQUS to predict
sound insulation properties of materials. According to the numerical results of
sound reduction index obtained from the finite element model, developing
composite materials and double-layer panels with cavity between should be
effective on improving the soundproof performance of SPF and glubam.
