CHAPTER THREE

Room Acoustics 1

Prepared By – Milat Kiflu

April 2021
 Table of Contents
1. Introduction.................................................................................................................................2
1.1. Building Acoustics...............................................................................................................2
1.2. Structures with acoustic implications..................................................................................2
2. Changes in the direction of sound travel....................................................................................2
2.1. Phenomena related to Changes in the direction of sound travel..........................................2
(1) Reflection..............................................................................................................................2
(2) Refraction..............................................................................................................................6
(3) Diffraction.............................................................................................................................6
(4) Diffusion................................................................................................................................7
3. Sound Absorption and Absorption Coefficient...........................................................................7
3.1. Sound Absorption................................................................................................................7
3.2. Sound Absorption Coefficient.............................................................................................8
3.3. Absorptive and reflective surfaces.......................................................................................8
3.4. Sound absorbers...................................................................................................................9
4. Reverberation and Sabine’s Formula........................................................................................11
4.1. Reverberation.....................................................................................................................11
4.2. Reverberation Time............................................................................................................12
4.3. Sabine’s Formula for Reverberation Time.........................................................................12
4.4. Optimum Reverberation Time...........................................................................................13

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 CHAPTER TWO
SOUND
1. Introduction
1.1. Building Acoustics
 Building acoustics or architectural acoustics deals with sound in the built environment.
1.2. Structures with acoustic implications
 Airports
 Churches
 Theatres
 Concert and Opera halls
 Educational structures, including class rooms, lecture halls, libraries, music practice
rooms etc.,
2. Changes in the direction of sound travel
2.1. Phenomena related to Changes in the direction of sound travel
 Medium is composed of molecules
 Sound waves change their direction of travel through four categories of phenomena :
1) Reflection
2) Refraction
3) Diffraction
4) Diffusion
 These phenomena can occur when changes occur in a sound wave’s medium of travel.
 These physical principles are the same as those that occur in the optical world with light.
(1) Reflection
 When a sound wave encounters a sharp discontinuity in the density of a medium, some of
its energy is reflected.
 Reflection is the return of sound wave from a surface.
 when the dimension (X) is greater than 2 to 4 times the wavelength(λ) (x>λ) of the striking
sound wave, the angle of incidence will equal the angle of reflection.
 Reflective surfaces are typically smooth and hard.
 A few common acoustic problems caused by reflections are echoes and room resonance.
 When an array of suspended panels is used to direct reflected sound energy towards the
audience, the individual panels should be varying sizes to prevent creating a
“rasping(rough)“ sound.
(2) Reflective surfaces
 Depending on the length of the surface relative to the wavelength of incident sound,
 Specular reflection
 Diffuse reflection

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  The type of reflection from a surface depends on the length of the surface relative to the
length of the incident sound wavelength.
 In a “specular sound reflection,” the angle of incident sound equals the angle of reflected
sound.
 In diffuse sound reflections, or scattering, the sound behaves more like light reflecting
from a fogged mirror, dispersing the reflected sound over a wider area.
 Most materials provide both specular and diffuse reflections; the proportion of specular
and diffuse reflections differentiates surfaces. To effectively scatter reflected sound, the
degree of texturing must be high; slight variations and modest curves produce slight and
modest scattering effects. The deeper the textured surface, the lower the frequency
diffused, so coffers or projections should extend at least one‐quarter wavelength (one to
two feet deep) to diffuse appropriately across the frequency spectrum.
Pattern of reflected sound
1) Concave sound reflecting surfaces
 Concave sound reflecting surfaces (such as barrel vaulted ceilings in churches and curved
rear walls in auditoriums) can focus sound, causing hot spots and echoes in the audience
seating area. Because concave surfaces focus sound, they also are poor distributors of
sound energy and therefore should be avoided where sound reflecting surfaces are desired
(stage, lectern and other source locations in a room).

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2) Flat sound reflecting surfaces
 Flat, hard surfaced building elements, if large enough and oriented properly, can
effectively distribute reflected sound.

3) Convex sound reflecting surfaces

 Convex hard surfaced building elements, if large enough, can be most effective as sound
distributing forms. The reflecting sound energy from convex surfaces diverges, enhancing
diffusion which is highly desirable for music listening. In addition, reflected sound from
convex surfaces is more evenly distributed across a wide range of frequencies.

ECHOES
 Echoes are caused by the limitations of our hearing mechanisms in processing sounds.
 When the difference in arrival times between two sounds is less than 60 milliseconds, we
hear the combination of the two sounds as a single sound.
 However, when this difference exceeds 60 milliseconds, we hear the two distinct sounds.
 When these two sounds are generated from the same source, this effect is known as ECHO
 While often conflated, an echo differs from reverberance. An echo, always unwanted, is
the noticeably audible repetition of the original sound, typically arriving after rebounding
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 off a first or second or third surface. Where as Reverberance is the prolonging of sound
through a multitude of room surface sound reflections arriving over a time window from
many directions. Think of an echo as a reappearance, recurrence, or replication of the
original sound, while reverberance is a continuation, protraction, prolongation,
perpetuation, continuation, or extension of the original sound.
FLUTTER ECHO
 When parallel surfaces are tall and fairly close to each other, a rapid succession of mid
frequency echoes, known as flutter echo, can occur.
 Long path between smooth parallel surfaces returns small echoes each time it passes.

 You hear flutter echo as the repetitive “wa‐wa‐wa‐wa‐wa,” when clapping in a room or
corridor with two parallel walls. Canting or splaying one of the walls by at least five
degrees (so they are no longer parallel), applying absorption to one of the walls, or
texturing one of the walls for diffusion remedies the problem.
ROOM RESONANCE
 Room resonance occurs at specific frequencies in rooms where two reflective walls are
parallel to each other.
 Caused when room dimension equal to the multiple of half wave length and also in small
rooms with parallel sound reflecting surfaces and law frequency sound source.
 Since their surfaces reflect the sound, their mirror images bounce off each wall to setup
stationary pressure pattern in a room.
 This phenomenon is called a single dimensional (or axial) standing wave and it is the
simplest form of room resonance.
 Room resonance is like Reflection of light in a mirror.
 Low‐frequency spatial peculiarities like resonance are difficult to precisely predict, but
they can be rendered less likely to occur through proper design.
 Low‐frequency sound wavelengths have dimensions on the order of the dimensions of a
room, so at those tones, standing waves and phase cancellations may form. As the waves
bounce back and forth along the same path, tracing and retracing, high sound pressure (at

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 a particular frequency) builds up in some locations, while nulls with pressures equal to the
atmospheric pressure appear in other spots.

 Resonance presents particular problems in small rooms for music that have sound‐
reflective parallel walls (for instance, in music practice rooms).
 The frequencies affected vary with the distances between room walls, but playing a pure
tone on the order of 100 Hz might reveal spots in the room that are unusually loud, and
other spots (sometimes only two feet from the loudspeaker source) where the sound seems
to disappear.
 It can be avoided by apllying the surfaces in both plans and sections so that thay are not
parallel or providing absorption at least on one face of parallel surfaces to limit the
strength of reflection.
(2) Refraction
 Just as light bends through a prism, the direction of sound is altered when sound waves
encounter changes in medium conditions that are not extreme enough to cause reflection,
but are enough to change the speed of sound.
 In addition to the speed of sound changing for different materials or media, the speed of
sound changes with changes in temperature within the same medium.
 This variation in sound travel direction, caused by variation in the speed of sound, passes
from one medium to another of a different density, e.g. from air to water is known as
refraction.
(3) Diffraction
 Diffraction is the bending or flowing of a sound wave around an object or through an
opening as they pass around the edge of an obstacle or through a narrow aperture: the
bending or spreading out of waves, e.g. of sound or light, as they pass around the edge of
an obstacle or through a narrow aperture.
 Sound waves bend around and over these types of walls, independent of their material, to
impose this limit.
 The principle of diffraction limits the sound reduction effectiveness of any open-plan
office partition or outdoor noise barrier.
 Occur when the dimension is smaller than the wave length(x<λ).

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  In auditoriums, because striking sound waves will readily diffract around panels that are
smaller than their wavelength , suspended panels must be carefully designed to be large
enough (length and width) to effectively reflect the desired wavelengths of sound.
 A single frequency can be emphasized (diffraction grating effect) when an array of small
overhead panels are of equal length and width or vertical projecting slats on walls that are
of equal depth and spacing. This should be avoided because it can impart an odd tonal
distortion to music due to cancelation effects.
(4) Diffusion
 When a sound wave reflects off a convex or un even surface, its energy is spread evenly
rather than being limited to a discrete reflection. This phenomenon, known as diffusion.
 Diffusion is the scattering or random distribution of sound wave from a surface. It occurs
when the surface depths of a hard surfaced materials are comparable to the wavelengths of
the sound.
 Occurs when the surface depths of a hard surfaced materials are comparable to the
wavelengths of the sound (x=λ).
 Diffusion does not “break up” or absorb sound- sound is not breakable or brittle however,
the direction of the incident sound wave changes as it strikes a sound diffusing material.
 Diffusion is an extremely of rooms used for musical performances. When satisfactory
diffusion has been achieved, listeners will have the sensation of sound coming from all
directions at equal levels.
 So diffusing surfaces of repeated regular elements, equal in length, may favor reflections
in one frequency over those of another. This can cause a shift in the perceived frequency
of the reflected sound called “tone coloration,” which sounds like a frequency shift in the
direction of a more shrill, almost metallic timbre. While this is often subtle, it is audible to
the discerning music listener, and it can be avoided by varying the size of diffusing
surfaces throughout the room. The type of reflection from a surface depends on the length
of the surface relative to the length of the incident sound wavelength. So diffusing
surfaces of repeated regular elements, equal in length, may favor reflections in one
frequency over those of another.
3. Sound Absorption and Absorption Coefficient
If sound is an energy and if energy is neither created nor destroyed then where does the
sound go or what happens to it?
3.1. Sound Absorption

 The property of a surface by which sound energy is converted into other form of energy is
known as absorption.
 In the process of absorption sound energy is converted into heat due to frictional resistance
inside the pores of the material.
 The fibrous and porous materials absorb sound energy more, than other solid materials.

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3.2. Sound Absorption Coefficient

 The effectiveness of a surface in absorbing sound energy is expressed with the help of
absorption coefficient.
 The coefficient of absorption `’ of a materials is defined as the ratio of sound energy
absorbed by its surface to that of the total sound energy incident on the surface.

Sound energy absorbed by the surface


Total sound energy incident on the surface

 A unit area of open window is selected as the standard.

 All the sound incident on an open window is fully transmitted and none is reflected.
Therefore, it is considered as an ideal absorber of sound.
 Thus the unit of absorption is the open window unit (O.W.U.), which is named a “Sabin”
after the scientist who established the unit.
2
 A 1m Sabin is the amount of sound absorbed by one square meter area of fully open
window.
 The value of `’ depends on the nature of the material as well as the frequency of sound. It
is a common practice to use the value of `’ at 500 Hz in acoustic designs.
 If a material has the value of “” as 0.5, it means that 50% of the incident sound energy
will be absorbed per unit area.
 If the material has a surface area of S sq.m., then the absorption provided by that material
is:

a = . S
 If there are different materials in a hall, then the total sound absorption by the different
materials is given by
 A = a + a + a + ……
1 2 3
 A =  S +  S +  S + ……
1 1 2 2 3 3

n
Or A = 
1
n Sn

 where  ,  ,  ……are absorption coefficients of materials with areas S , S , S ,

1 2 3 1 2 3
…….
3.3. Absorptive and reflective surfaces

 Absorption coefficient (α)

 α >0.50, sound absorptive material
 α< 0.20, sound reflective material

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 We use the absorption coefficient (α), a number between zero and one, to describe the
sound absorbing quality of a surface and to quantify the proportion of incident sound
energy that does not return to the room in the form of a reflection. The higher the value,
the more sound is absorbed (turned to heat within the material) or transmitted (passed
through the material) and the less is reflected; the lower the value, the more sound is
reflected and the less is absorbed or transmitted. So an absorption coefficient of an open
window is 1.00 because no sound energy incident on that surface returns to the room. The
absorption coefficient of a (theoretical) perfect reflector is 0.00 because all incident sound
returns to the room by way of a reflection off the surface.
 Materials with absorption coefficients greater than 0.50 are generally considered sound‐
absorbent materials, and materials with absorption coefficients less than 0.20 are generally
considered sound‐reflective materials. We typically don’t perceive an absorption
coefficient change of less than 0.10, and we judge a change of greater than 0.40 to be
considerable.
3.4. Sound absorbers

 Materials with absorption coefficients greater than 0.50 are generally considered sound‐
absorbent materials, and materials with absorption coefficients less than 0.20 are generally
considered sound‐reflective materials. We typically don’t perceive an absorption
coefficient change of less than 0.10, and we judge a change of greater than 0.40 to be
considerable.
 Higher values of the absorption coefficient accompany materials that are
(a) more porous,
(b) less smooth,
(c) of less weight,
(d) thicker (provided the thicker material is porous),
(e) mounted over an airspace, or
(f) of less mass (where more of the energy passes through or is translated to
mechanical energy, as in a panel absorber).

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 Higher α values are characterized by a fiber orientation that constructs multitudes of tiny
interconnecting air pockets. Materials with lower absorption coefficient values are smooth,
dense, flush‐mounted, and massive.
a. Porous absorbers
 At low frequencies, porous absorbers translate acoustic energy to heat; at higher
frequencies, sound energy is damped because of the friction encountered when incident
sound waves through the interconnected pores of the absorber. Still more sound energy is
lost as sound changes direction
 within the absorber, and through a complex process called acoustic impedance mismatch
which occurs when sound moves between two media (air and the absorber) that differ in
their acoustic densities.
 Absorption effectiveness is a function of thickness, fiber orientation, density, and porosity.
Closed‐cell insulating foams, whose pores are not interconnected, fail to perform as
effective porous absorbers. To check if a porous material might make a good absorber,
blow through it under moderate pressure. If your breath passes through, the pores are
interconnected and you likely have an effective absorber in your hands.

 Porous absorbers are most effective for sounds with a 1/4 wavelength equal to the distance
from the solid surface to the centre of the absorber. In this case the maximum amplitude of
both the incident and the reflected wave would occur within the porous material.
b. Membrane absorbers
 Membrane absorbers may be flexible sheets stretched over supports, or rigid panels
mounted at some distance from a solid wall.
 Conversion to heat would occur due to the rapid flexing of the membrane and repeated
compression of the air behind it. These will be most effective at their resonant frequency,
which depends on the surface density of the membrane, the width of the enclosed space
and on the fixing and stiffness of the membrane or panel.
 Most such absorbers are effective in the low frequency range.
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 c. Perforated panel absorbers
 Perforated panel absorbers combine all three of the above mechanisms. The panel itself
may be plywood, hardboard, plasterboard or metal and many act primarily as membrane
absorbers.
 The perforations, holes or slots with the air space behind them act as multiple cavity
resonators, improved by some porous absorber. Most of the broad spectrum
commercially available acoustic materials (e.g. ceiling tiles) fall into this category.

 Perforated panel absorbers stretched flexible sheets or mounted rigid panels at some
distance from a solid wall or a roof and they are most effective in low frequency range.
4. Reverberation and Sabine’s Formula
4.1. Reverberation

 Sound produced in an enclosure does not die out immediately after the source has ceased
to produce it.

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 A sound produced in a hall undergoes multiple reflections from the walls, floor and ceiling
before it becomes inaudible.
 A person in the hall continues to receive successive reflections of progressively
diminishing intensity.
 This prolongation of sound before it decays to a negligible intensity is called
reverberation.

4.2. Reverberation Time

 The time taken by the sound in a room to fall from its average intensity to inaudibility
level is called the reverberation time of the room.
 Reverberation time is defined as the time during which the sound energy density falls from
-6
its steady state value to its one-millionth (10 ) value after the source is shut off.
 If initial sound level is L and the final level is L and reference intensity value is I ,then
i f
we can write;
L = 10 log and L = 10 log
i f
L – L = 10 log
i f
-6
As = 10 ,
6
L – L = 10 log 10 = 60 dB
i f

 Thus, the reverberation time is the period of time in seconds, which is required for sound
energy to diminish by 60 dB after the sound source is stopped.
4.3. Sabine’s Formula for Reverberation Time

 Prof.Wallace C.Sabine (1868-1919) determined the reverberation times of empty halls and
furnished halls of different sizes and arrived at the following conclusions.
 The reverberation time depends on the;
o Reflecting properties of the walls, floor and ceiling of the hall.
o Directly upon the physical volume V of the hall.

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 o Absorption coefficient of various surfaces such as carpets, cushions, curtains etc.
present in the hall.
o Frequency of the sound wave because absorption coefficient of most of the
materials increases with frequency.
 Prof. Sabine summarized his results in the form of the following equation.

Volume of the Hall , V

Reverberation Time, T 
Absorption , A

V
or T= K
A
 Where K is a proportionality constant.
It is found to have a value of 0.161 when the dimensions are measured in metric units.
Thus, 0.161V
T= A

 This Equation is known as Sabine’s formula for reverberation time.

 It may be rewritten as

0.161V
T= N

 n Sn
1 0.161V
or T =
 1 S1   2 S 2   3 S 3  .......   n S n

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 4.4. Optimum Reverberation Time

 abine determined the time of reverberation for halls of various sizes.

 And from the results, he deduced the reverberation time that is likely to be most
satisfactory for the purpose for which a hall is built.
 Such satisfactory value is known as the optimum reverberation time.

Activity in Hall Optimum Reverberation Time (Sec)

Conference halls 1 to 1.5

Cinema theatre 1.3

Assembly halls 1 to 1.5

Public lecture halls 1.5 to 2

Music concert halls 1.5 to 2

Churches 1.8 to 3

Problem – 1
1. An assembly hall having rectangular shape and its dimensions are 30m x 20m x 8m. the areas
of different surfaces used are; cement plaster = 700m2, concrete floor = 600m2, celotex
ceiling = 600m2, light weight curtains = 100m2, capacity of wooden seating in the hall = 900.
assume 2/3 rd. of audience present in the hall. work out the followings;
i. number of observing units and reverberation time
ii. number of extra absorbing units required so as to get an optimum reverberation time
of 1.2 second.
iii. coefficient of absorbing materials of area for fixing material is 680m2.

Problem – 2
2. An auditorium having rectangular shape and its dimensions are 40m x 30m x 15m. The
interior surfaces of the auditorium are covered by the following materials;
i. Cement plaster walls = 1800m2,
ii. Concrete floor = 1200m2,
iii. Acoustical material ceiling = 1200m2
iv. Curtains on walls = 330m2
The capacity of auditorium is 2000 seats. Determine number of absorbing units, time of
reverberation and extra absorbing units for the optimum time of reverberation 1.2 seconds
if required, for the following audience factor;
a) If no audience
b) Audience factor is one-third
c) Audience full.
Problem – 3
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 3. An auditorium having rectangular shape and its dimensions are 30m x 20m x 8m. The Areas
of different surfaces are as follows;
i. Cement plaster = 700m2,
ii. Wooden floor = 300m2,
iii. Concrete floor = 900m2
iv. Curtains = 100m2
I. The capacity of auditorium is of 1000 seats. Work out the following; I. Number of
absorbing units and time of reverberation when
a) No audience
b) An audience of 400 persons
c) An audience of 700 persons
d) Full audience
II. Number of extra absorbing units required so as to get a reverberation time of 1.2 seconds when
the strength of audience is 400 persons
III. Coefficient of absorbing materials, if the area available for fixing the absorbing material is
840m2.

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