AP-215 LIGHTING & ACOUSTIC

BEHAVIOUR
OF
SOUND/NOISE
 REFLECTIONS

• The spherical wavefronts (solid lines) strike the wall/ flat

surface and the reflected wavefronts (broken lines) are
returned toward the source.

• Behaves the same as light reflections from a mirror

• Angle of incidence = Angle of reflection

REFLECTIONS FROM CONVEX / CONCAVE SURFACES

Plane sound waves impinging on

a concave irregularity tend to be
focused
Plane sound waves
impinging on a convex
irregularity tend to be
dispersed through a wide
angle
The absorptivity of a given material is SOUND ABSORBTION
frequency-dependent and is affected by size,
shape, location and the mounting method
used.

Difficult is the
Lower the Greater the
absorption of
frequency wavelength
sound

Absorption Material in space

Air/Volume of the space

Finishes

Furnishing
A material’s sound absorbing properties can
be described as a sound absorption
People- Their number,
coefficient in a particular frequency range.
clothing etc.
 FACTORS NEEDED TO BE LOOKED IN ACOUSTICAL
MATERIALS

 NRC (Noise Reduction Coefficient)

 Absorption coefficient

 Sound Transmission Class (STC

 Sound Transmission Loss (STL or TL)

 ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT

• The actual absorption coefficients of a material are frequency dependent

and represent how well sound is absorbed .

• The result is expressed as a number between 0 and 1 where 0 is total

reflection and 1 is total absorption.

• If the coefficient is
multiplied by 100, it
provides the percentage of
incident sound that is
absorbed. a = 0,75 means
a = 0,75 x 100 % = 75%
sound absorption (The
remaining 25% is sound
reflection)
 NRC (Noise Reduction Coefficient)

• NRC is the arithmetical average rounded to the nearest multiple of 0.05, of

the absorption coefficients for the 250, 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz
frequencies.
• NRC ratings range from 0 to 1. An NRC of 0 means that the product
absorbs no sound. An NRC of 1 means that the product absorbs all sound

• Soft materials like acoustic foam, fiberglass, fabric, carpeting, etc high
NRCs while harder materials like brick, tile and drywall lower NRCs.
NRC=0 NRC=0.5 NRC=1
Sound Transmission Class (STC)

• The sound transmission class (STC) is a numerical rating of the ability

of a wall, floor/ceiling assembly or any other building element such as a
door or window to minimize sound transmission.
• Virtually every material filters out some of the sound that travels
through it, but dense materials are much better at this than are porous
or fibrous materials.
• It completely ignores frequencies
outside its defined range of 125–
4000 Hz.
 By adding gypsum-board partitions to both sides of a concrete-block wall, STC
can be increased to about 70.
 Sound Transmission Loss (STL or TL)
• TL is the loss as sound passes through a barrier. In particular, TL can be
defined as difference between sound pressure level (SPL) on the source
side of the barrier, and the SPL on the receiver side:
• Example:½‖ drywall has an STL at 125 Hz of 15 dB.
TL = SPL source side − SPL receiver side
SOUND INSULATING TECHNIQUES

• Double wall construction

• Cavity wall construction

• False ceiling

• Hollow block construction

• Double pane windows

• Baffle blocks, honey combs etc.

  Double wall construction .
BOARDS WOODEN STUDS

BOARDS
SOUND ABSORBING BLANKET
WOODEN STUDS
 Cavity wall construction.

EXTERNAL WALL 13MM CELOTEX OR OTHER

PLASTERED INSULATING BOARD

5CM CAVITY
METAL FLY

BRICK WALL 10CM

 False ceiling.

REINFORCED CONCRETE ROOF

SUSPENDERS

FALSE CEILING
 Hollow block construction.
HOLLOW

COMPRESSED CONCRETE HOLLOW BLOCKS

 TYPICAL INSULATION VALUES FOR DIFFERENT TYPE OF WALLS

Sr. TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION APPROX. Average

no. WEIGHT IN TL in dB
Kg/sq. m
1 One brick thick wall that is 20 cm. 485-490 50

2 One and half brick thick wall that is 30 cm. 705-710 53

3 Cavity wall having two leaves each of half brick 485-490 50-53
thickness with 5cm cavity.

4 Cavity wall having two 10 cm thick leaves of 310-312 50

clinker block with 5cm cavity.
Sr. TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION APPROX. Average
no. WEIGHT IN TL in dB
Kg/sq. m
5 Half brick wall with 13mm thick plaster on 268-270 45
both sides.

6 20 cm thick hollow dense concrete block wall 185 45

with 13 mm thick plaster on both sides.

7 Partition wall made with gypsum wall board 60-70 45

fixed on timber frame work.

8 76 mm thick hollow clay block wall with 13 mm 108-110 36

thick plaster on both sides.
 SOUND ABSORPTION MATERIALS
1. SOUND ABSORBERS

• used to eliminate sound reflections to improve

speech intelligibility, reduce standing waves
and prevent comb filtering.
• examples are open cell polyurethane foam,
cellular melamine, fiberglass, fluffy fabrics and
other porous materials
• Available in vary thickness and in shape to
achieve different absorption ratings depending
on the specific sound requirements.

TYPES –
Acoustical foam panels Acoustic Foam Acoustic Fiberglass
White paintable acoustical wall panels
Fabric wrapped panels
Acoustical wall coverings
Ceiling tiles
Baffles and banners for ceiling
Fibre glass blankets and roll
Hanging Baffles Acoustic Cotton
 2. SOUND DIFFUSERS
These devices reduce the intensity of sound by scattering it over an expanded
area, rather than eliminating the sound reflections as an absorber would.
3. NOISE BARRIERS
These are the materials used to block the
transmission of airborne sound to devices and
compounds used to isolate structures from
one another and reduce impact noise.

Quad. Pyramid diffuser Pyramidal Diffuser

Composites
Barriers

Double duty diffuser Quadratic diffuser

used to reduce the
transmission of
airborne sound.

Vibration control
 MATERIALS FOR WALL
 Decorative Fabric Wrapped Custom Acoustical Wall Panels

•High Performance
•Architecturally Decorative
•Custom Engineered & Manufactured
•Reduced Noise & Reverberation
•100% Custom Colors and Sizes
Edge Details

 Acoustic-Board

NRC - 0.35

STC - 26

APPLICATIONS - flooring underlayment,

damping layer between studs and gypsum
board to improve Sound Transmission Class
(STC) of gypsum drywall partitions. Schools,
Apartment Buildings
 Denim Insulation
  Acoustical Wall Covering

APPLICATIONS: Conference , theatres

hospitals , office partition , schools and hallways
NRC VALUE : 0.6 when applied over
acoustical backer board .
INSTALLATION: Acoustical Adhesive

 acoustical hangers

 Diffuser Blocking Absorber

Fibre-board
wrapped
insulation panels &
are hung freely
using wire or
rope.
  Vinyl Barrier

Vinyl Noise Barrier

•Reduces Sound Transmission
•Improves Communications
•Improves Health & Safety

Installation
Material can be nailed, screwed, stapled
or can be reinforced and grommeted and
hung like a curtain.

Applications
Reduced noise transmission through
ceilings, walls, floors, machinery
enclosures, ductwork. Apply over
suspended ceilings on studs or joists.
MATERIALS FOR CEILING
CEILING TILES
I. Perforated Metal Panels

Material - Anodized Perforated

Aluminum

Metal Options- Galvanized steel

or Stainless steel

Applications - Ceiling Tiles, Wall

panels, Steps, machine enclosures

Installation- Mechanical Clips

CEILING TILES

II. Acoustical Ceiling Clouds

• Ceiling Clouds are acoustical panels that

suspend horizontally from the ceiling to reduce
sound reflections.

• Grid wire or aircraft cable can be extended to an

L-bar mounted on the back of the panel.

• The face and edges of the glass fiber core are

wrapped in fabric to match or accentuate room
décor
 Acoustical boards

Various types of acoustical boards