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-   -   Sound Damping on Indica front door (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-entertainment/42334-sound-damping-indica-front-door.html)

After reading a lot of posts on insulation and damping, I decided to take up the front door damping of my Indica as a DIY.
About two years back when my car was still quite new, it struck me while on site (I'm an architect) that the material that we use to insulate AC ducts - Armaflex - would be great to apply to some of the inner surfaces of the car. The intention then had been to reduce engine and road noise.
So I got a roll of Armaflex for my self and put it on the loft to take up as a Sunday activity. Life got on and the sunday never came till I joined the forum and got all charged up again.

Finally, I decided to try the experiment on the front doors.
Opening the door panel is quite simple and I was very confident as I've owned two other indica's in the past.

The Armaflex has a self-adhesive side and I managed to cut pieces and stick it to the metal after cleaning the surface as best i could to achieve a near seam less cladding on the door insides.
Pics of Before & After are posted below.

The difference ( I have 6" round Pioneer co-axials on the doors)
Without the damping at loud volumes there was a perceptible door vibration. When standing outside the car, the bass was sounding quite bad too.
After the damping the vibrations were reduced substantially and the sound was better inside the car. When standing outside, I could actually make out there was some music playing inside the car instead of some jarring thumping.

Now I'm waiting for my Palio 1.6 to be delivered next week and will be replicating the DIY!

What is this Armaflex stuff? Do you know its chemical composition etc? How much did it cost you?

imho the plastic door panels need a lot of damping as well. I think what you used is a foam type heat insulator. damping material is usually very heavy stuff added to increase the mass of the door panels.

IIRC, you said the thickness was 12mm. Isnt that too thick to use as damping ?

CLASS O ARMAFLEX (Armacell).

Nitrile rubber, so it will do some damping (finite, non-zero). This company seems to have sound damping (ARMASOUND Super Silence), but not sure if it is suitable for cars (looks too thick).

Fantastic, @viper_711, this is an inspirational effort. We are all waiting for you to complete your narration and more pics!

The website reference is correct - it is a nitrile rubber based product - i've finished both doors and the results are good imho. I can say this because i used the cars with the same ICE setup for over two years without the armaflex.
I did not have to pay anything as i got a roll of my site - the contractor was amazed when i told him what i wanted it for!
As an architect, i've studied sound and acoustics as a subject and any porous material helps to insulate sound. This is what prompted me try this material.

hey what is the cost of this material and is this easily available or does one need order for this?

all of this data will help a lot here please

Armacell.In
This page has link for distributors all over the country.

and this PDF is interesting http://www.armacell.in/ArmacellPdfIn...lenceIndia.pdf

do post the prices viper. you might have gotten the stuff free , but since it is industrial strength sound insulation, it might end up costing more than the usual stuff

Spoke to bangalore distributer its about 655Rs plus wat for 1sq meter 10mm thick foam.That is about 65-70 Rs per sqfoot.We can use Fevicol SR998 as adhessive

I think, rubber sheets would work better. 10mm is too thick to put into any door.

I have used 6mm ccfoam in my alto front doors.I think 10mm could be possible since it is foam not rubber -may be i am wrong.

mohang, you're right about managing with upto 10mm for foam. Armaflex Nitrile rubber too has a porous cellular structure and is quite flexible. I managed to get into the cavity quite easily and it doesn't foul with the glass operation.

10mm may fit into the door cavity when you're damping the outer shell but there are hardly a few millimetres of space between the plastic panel and the metal door frame.
IMO, that is the most important part of damping when you want to improve the mid bass and the acoustic response. Damping the outer shell only serves to reduce the road noise and the resonance somewhat. Gurus please correct if im wrong.

You may be right here aditya - I can't comment on this as i've mainly concentrated only on the door cavity as yet. I'll see what i can do between the plastic shell and the door. Suggestions are welcome.