ACOUSTICS

IN BUILDINGS
UNIT-4 ACOUSTICS
Acoustics of buildings - Characteristics of Audible sound
- Principles of Acoustics - Acoustics Defects - Sound
Absorption Materials.

Acoustics Treatment of Buildings such as Cinema

Theatre, Radio Broadcasting Studio, Concert Halls, Cold
Storage units, Conference Hall, Seminar and Lecture
Hall.

Sound Insulation of Buildings - Sound Insulation and

Sound Absorption - Practical consideration of Noise
Control and Sound Insulation of Buildings.

Preparation of layout for the above room

 Sound and Acoustics in Buildings
Definition
 Acoustics is the study of the physics of sound.

 Acoustics in buildings concerns controlling the quality and amount of

sound inside a building.

 It is used to allow for pleasant sound in a concert hall and to reduce

echoes and noise within an office building.

 Acoustics also concerns suppressing sound coming from outside the

building, such as in apartments
 The field of building acoustics consists of two parts; Room Acoustics
which deals with sound propagation in a room and Building
Acoustics, which deals with sound propagation between rooms.

 Typically, room acoustics is related to the quality of sound, e.g.

concert hall acoustics, while building acoustics is more related to
unwanted sound,

 i.e. when you want to hear as little as possible of what is going on in

adjacent rooms.
ROOM ACOUSTICS
BUILDING ACOUSTICS
 CHARACTERISTICS OF AUDIBLE SOUND
SENSITIVITY OF HUMAN EAR
The human ear can respond to minute pressure variations in the air
if they are in the audible frequency range, roughly 20 Hz - 20 kHz.
 Audible sound
Usually "sound" is used to mean sound which can be
perceived by the human ear, i.e., "sound" refers to audible sound
unless otherwise classified.

A reasonably standard definition of audible sound is that it is

a pressure wave with frequency between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz and
with an intensity above the standard threshold of hearing.

Since the ear is surrounded by air, or perhaps under water,

the sound waves are constrained to be longitudinal waves. Normal
ranges of sound pressure and sound intensity may also be
specified.
Frequency: 20 Hz - 20,000 Hz (corresponds with pitch)

Intensity: 10-12 - 10 watts/m2 (0 to 130 decibels)

Pressure: 2 x 10-5 - 60 Newtons/m2 2 x 10-10 - .0006 atmospheres

For an air temperature of 20°C where the sound speed is 344 m/s, the audible
sound waves have wavelengths from 0.0172 m (0.68 inches) to 17.2 meters
(56.4 feet).
 FREQUENCY AND AUDIBLE SOUND
Audible sound is produced by sound pressure applied to a listener’s ear.

This pressure is initiated by a speaker or some other mechanical device that

creates a series of pulses of energy that, in turn, cause air molecules to
vibrate.

As these molecules vibrate, they bump into adjacent molecules causing them
to vibrate in a similar manner and “move” through the air.

If these vibrations reach a listener’s ear with sufficient energy to cause

pressure on the eardrum, the listener “hears” an audible sound.
Each pulse of energy contains a series of vibrations that are
sustained until the initial energy is ultimately expended in the form of hear.

Some of the vibrations cycle at a high rate while some cycle at a slower rate
(high or low frequencies). If this did not happen, the l Listener would hear a
very boring monotone.

Unfortunately, listeners do not perceive all of the frequencies contained in

each pulse of energy equally.

As reference to the graph below shows, the perception of frequencies below

500 Hz and above 6000 Hz is much less at the more commonly uses sound
pressure levels.
In fact, at the 20 phon loudness level, the listener probably will not hear any
sounds below 200 Hz or above 7000 Hz.
Further, as the graph illustrates, the “roll off” is much greater in low
frequencies.
 PRINCIPLES OF ACOUSTICS

 Basic concepts – oscillatory system, basics of wave systems,

decibel scale, frequency analysis, hearing.

 Descriptors for time varying noise levels, Leq , LDN, L10 etc.

 Sound and hearing, noise criteria and noise rating, types of

hearing loss.

 Behavior of waves, source mechanisms (monopole, dipole

etc), outdoor propagation, principles of barriers.
 Sound in spaces (small and large), reflection, absorption,
reverberation time.

 Airborne sound insulation, standardized and weighted level

differences, structure borne sound, impact sound.

 Vibration, undammed free oscillations, damped driven oscillations,

displacement, velocity, acceleration, vibration control, damage to
buildings, sensitive equipment, human vibration.

 Measurement microphones, analysis equipment, dosimeter,

intensity probe, accelerometers, general measuring procedures.

 General noise control strategies, mechanical ventilation noise,

hearing conservation obligations.
Echoes
Echoes
While many acoustic defects are a matter of degree, such as too much
reverberation or in adequate loudness, certain phenomena are always
disagreeable.

Echoes can certainly be obvious and pernicious.

An echo is a reflection which is heard as a discrete event..

Flutter echoes
While echoes involving large delay and long path lengths, flutter echoes
normally involving short path lengths but iterated many times.

A Common flutter echo situation occurs between two parallel walls.

SOUND ABSORPTION

All building materials have

some acoustical
properties in that they will
all absorb, reflect or
transmit sound striking
them.

Conventionally speaking,
acoustical materials are
those materials designed
and used for the purpose
of absorbing sound that
might otherwise be
reflected.
Sound absorption is defined, as the incident sound that strikes a material that is
not reflected back.

An open window is an excellent absorber since the sounds passing through the
open window are not reflected back but makes a poor sound barrier.

Painted concrete block is a good sound barrier but will reflect about 97% if the
incident sound striking it.

When a sound wave strikes an acoustical material the sound wave causes the
fibers or particle makeup of the absorbing material to vibrate.
This vibration causes tiny amounts of heat due to the friction and thus sound
absorption is accomplished by way of energy to heat conversion.

The more fibrous a material is the better the absorption; conversely denser
materials are less absorptive.

The sound absorbing characteristics of acoustical materials vary

significantly with frequency.

In general low frequency sounds are very difficult to absorb because of

their long wavelength.

On the other hand, we are less susceptible to low frequency sounds, which
can be to our benefit in many cases.
 What is the difference between insulation & absorption ?
SOUND INSULATION is required in order to eliminate the sound path
from a source to a receiver such as between apartments in a
building, or to reduce unwanted external noise inside a concert
hall.

Heavy materials like concrete tend to be the best materials for

sound insulation - doubling the mass per unit area of a wall will
improve its insulation by about 6dB.

It is possible to achieve good insulation with much less mass by

instead using a double leaf partition.
SOUND ABSORPTION occurs when some or all of the incident sound energy is
either converted into heat or passes through the absorber.

For this reason good sound absorbers do not of themselves make good sound
insulators.

Although insulation and absorption are different concepts, there are many
instances where the use of sound absorbers will improve insulation.

However absorption should not be the primary means of achieving good sound
insulation.
 Sound Absorption
Material Coefficient
-α-
Plaster walls 0.01 - 0.03
Unpainted brickwork 0.02 - 0.05
Painted brickwork 0.01 - 0.02
3 mm plywood panel 0.01 - 0.02
6 mm cork sheet 0.1 - 0.2
6 mm porous rubber sheet 0.1 - 0.2

12 mm fiberboard on battens 0.3 - 0.4

25 mm wood wool cement on battens 0.6 - 0.07

50 mm slag wool or glass silk 0.8 - 0.9

12 mm acoustic belt 0.5 - 0.5
Hardwood 0.3
25 mm sprayed asbestos 0.6 - 0.7

100 mm mineral wool 0.65

Persons, each 2.0 - 5.0
Acoustic tiles 0.4 - 0.8
SOUND ABSORPTION PANEL
SPONGES SERIES
ACOUSTICS BOARD
ACOUSTICS TREATMENT OF BUILDINGS

CINEMA THEATRE
Cinema 651 Acoustic Treatments and building acoustic panels
SOUND INSULATION
Sound or noise insulation is frequency dependent; this means, for noises
with different frequencies also different sound insulation values are
applicable.

To get a quick and easy impression of the sound insulation of doors often
the value Rw is used.

The Rw-value is calculated based upon a comparison between the

measured values and a reference curve according to EN ISO 140 (third
bands 100 Hz until 3.150 Hz).
The Rw-value is therefore indicative; the actual sound insulation has to be
determined for each sound (spectrum).
By using more specific single number ratings, a better prediction of the
actual sound insulation can be obtained for the specific application.
SOUND INSULATION OF BUILDINGS
Domestic Extensions
Extensions to houses will be affected by Regulation E2 which requires
sound insulation within the
internal walls and floors of buildings.
The guidance relating to this part of the Regulations is contained in
Section 5 of the Approved Document.

In a typical domestic situation stud walls around bedrooms and

bathrooms need 75mm studwork with either two layers of
plasterboard on each side or 25mm of sound
insulation incorporated within the wall.

Internal timber floors will require 100mm of sound insulation to be

placed between the joists within the cavity (see diagrams below).
For extensions where more than one property is involved the separating walls
and floors should be built
to the standards required for new dwellings (see later) although no sound
testing will be required.
Walls between residential rooms and any corridors will also need to be
constructed as separating walls and guidance relating to doors in these walls
is given.

Separating walls and floors between residential rooms which are either
purpose built or formed by conversion will be subject to post completion
testing
CELLULOSE INSULATION FOR WALLS AND ATTICS
Cellulose insulation is superior to fiberglass in blocking heat loss and air
infiltration, eliminating moisture, reducing energy consumption, and
providing fireproofing and sound insulation.

It does not deteriorate, costs less to fabricate, and is composed of 80%

recycled materials, diverting usable materials from the wastestream.

Buildings insulated with cellulose reduce air infiltration by 24.5% over

traditional fiberglass insulation and therefore require 26% less energy
to heat and cool.

In an era of ever-rising energy costs, going green with cellulose makes

simple common sense.
Acoustic Noise

Noise is, to a great extent, a purely subjective personal phenomena. Perhaps

the best definition of it is as an unwanted sound.

Noise does, however, have two basic characteristics.

The first is the physical phenomenon which can be measured and thus used in
technical specification.

The second is the psycho acoustical characteristic which attempts to judge

the effect of noise on human beings.

In industries that use small cooling fans, fan noise simply interferes with the
ability of the people working nearby to concentrate on their work.
The factors of greatest importance to the system designer are the psychological
influences on the person rather than the physical influences of sound on the
human ear.

Sound is perceived and measured as minute pressure fluctuations above and

below the ambient pressure.

The pressure variations of interest for their psycho acoustical effect vary as
much as 13 orders of magnitude.

Because of this large range of hearing capability, it is convenient to express

these values in decibels. Sound Pressure Level (SPL) which is environmentally
dependent
VORTEX SHEDDING

This is a broad band noise source generated by air separation from the blade
surface and trailing edge. It can be controlled somewhat by good blade profile
design, proper pitch angle and notched or serrated trailing blade edges

TURBULENCE

Turbulence is created in the airflow stream itself. It contributes to broad

band noise. Inlet and Outlet disturbances, sharp edges and bends will cause
increased turbulence and noise.

SPEED

The effect of speed on noise can best be seen through one of the fan laws.
TYPES OF NOISE AND THEIR EFFECTS OF TRANSMISSION
The noise and vibrant problems encountered in real floor ceilings
generally fall in to four categories.
Airborne,
footfall,
structural deflection, and
floor squeak

Airborne noise isolation in floors follows the same principles

and is tested in the same manner as airborne noise isolation in
walls.STC tested are done by placing the noise sources in the
downstairs room to insure vibration decoupling between the loud
speakers and the floor – ceiling system being tested.
FOOTFALL

The act of walking across a floor generates noise due to two mechanism.
Footfall and structural deflection.
Foot noise is created by the impact of a hard object such as heel, striking the
surface of a floor.

STRUCTURAL DEFLECTION

When a person walks or bounces up and down a floor will deflect under the
static and dynamic load of his weight.

SQUEAK

Floor squeak is a phenomenon found in wood structures which is most often

caused by the rubbing of nails against wood framing members or metal
hangers.