Lecture

TECHNICAL SERVICE SYSTEMS I LECTURE 6
Technical service systems I (GSE366a)

Acoustics and illumination
Lecture 6
1
Original lectures by: Dr.Samir El Banna
Prepared and presented by: Dr.Salwa El Gindi and Dr.El Mahdy ALY .
Acoustical Materials
Absorption Materials:
Architectural surfaces need to be designed to reflect sound,
absorb sound, or diffuse sound. Each type of surface has its own
specific criteria and applications.
1) Absorptive surfaces: Are primarily used for the following
applications:
a) Reverberation Control: reduction of reverberant sound
energy to improve speech intelligibility (Clarity).
b) Sound Level Control: reduction of sound or noise buildup
in a room to maintain appropriate listening levels and
improve sound isolation to nearby spaces.
c) Echo and Reflection Control: elimination of perceived
single echoes, multiple flutter echoes, or unwanted sound
reflections from room surfaces.
d) Diffusion Enhancement: mixing of sound in a room by
alternating sound absorptive and sound reflective materials.
Absorptive surfaces are any of three basic types of materials:
1) Porous materials include fibrous materials, foam, carpet,
acoustic ceiling tile, and draperies.
2) Vibrating panels thin sound-reflective materials rigidly or
resiliently mounted over an airspace that dissipates sound
energy by converting it first to vibrational energy.
3) Volume resonators - materials containing openings
leading to a hollow cavity in which sound energy is
dissipated. The following figure shows a graphical
representation of the above types of sound absorbing
2
materials along with typical levels of absorption versus

frequency.
Wood Fiber Acoustical Ceiling tile Acoustical Ceiling tile
Porous materials
Vibrating panels
Helmholtz resonators
3
Absorptive surfaces exhibit improved low-frequency absorption

with increasing airspace behind the materials. They are most
efficient when applied in smaller panels distributed evenly on a
room’s boundary.
2) Reflective surfaces:
1) Reflective surfaces are considered to be essentially flat or
slightly shaped planes of hard building materials including
gypsum board, wood, plywood, plaster, heavy metal, glass,
masonry, and concrete.
2) Should be of sufficient mass, thickness, and stiffness to
avoid becoming absorbers of low-frequency sound energy
where this is not desired (see discussion of Absorptive
Surfaces below).
3) Should be of sufficient dimension to reflect all frequencies
of interest. An 8-foot (2.4-m) surface width will reflect
energy above 500 Hz, which is sufficient for most speech
and music applications since frequencies below 500 Hz are
more unidirectional in nature and not easily directed
towards a specific location.
4) Can create problems by being located and oriented such that
sound generated a certain distance away can reflect back to
its point of origin delayed in time and thus cause a
troublesome echo.
4
3)Diffusive surfaces:
1) Diffusive surfaces are materials having a non-planar shaping
or random articulation that result in the redirection and
redistribution of sound energy impacting their surfaces.
2) Promote (suppress) diffusion, or even distribution, of sound
in a room which creates in a listener the sense of being
enveloped in a sound generated within the room.
3) Are typically sound-reflective surfaces formed into convex,
splayed or randomly articulated shapes.
4) Are not concave surfaces which can cause uneven focusing
of sound energy.
Acoustical absorption:
Acoustical absorption of furnishing and curtain fabrics against
walls, readily absorbs high frequencies, but have limited
absorption at low frequencies. The further curtain fabrics are
placed away from walls, the better the absorption is to include
lower frequencies. Rock wool (fiberglass) has the highest
absorption capacity.
5
Typical types of absorbing materials:

1-Porous absorption materials:
a) Fiber glass has a higher absorption coefficient in the
frequencies above 800 Hz (about 0.9)
b) Cotton curtains absorbs the middle frequencies (1000Hz)
c) carpets absorb the frequencies above 2000Hz
Typical absorption curves for

porous absorbers.
The effect of spacing a

porous absorber away from
a hard surface.
6
2-Resonant absorbers:
Resonant absorbers such as wood paneling work because the
incident sound energy causes vibrations in the absorber and these
converted to frictional losses within the absorbing structure itself.
A )Wood paneling structure to absorb low frequencies .
Typical construction of a panel absorber.
Typical absorption curves of panel absorbers.
7
B) Wood paneling structure to absorb medium (200-800Hz) frequencies
Typical construction of a
Hemholtz resonant absorber.
Typical absorption curves for

Hemholtz resonant absorbers.
C) Wood paneling structure to absorb both high and low frequencies
Construction of a wideband absorber.
8
Perforated Acoustic wood panels.
Wood wall panels. Perforated ceiling wood panels.
9
Multi-function halls:
Rotating elements can vary the reverberation charecteristics of a

room.they have the disadvantage of requiring considerable space
to accommodate the rotating elements.
An inexpensive and effective method of incorporating variability

in room acoustics as through the use of hinged panels, hard on
one side and absorbent on the other.
Removable acoustic panels.

Operable removable acoustic panels.
T
10
he simplest and cheapest way to adjust the reverberation

characteristics of a room is to use removable panels.
The Triffsor may be used in groups to

provide variable acoustics in a space.
Rotation of the individual units can bring
diffusing, absorbing or reflecting surfaces
into play.
Sound treatment of a
cinema
11
There is a need for a surface treatment

that controls strong first order reflections
over a wide range of frequencies and
angles of incidence which also offers near
field scattering to provide a natural
ambience.
The abffusor provides sound diffusion from a series of divided

reflective wells of equal width and different depths. it utilizes
two absorption mechanisms. The first is the traditional
dissipation of sound energy into heat by frictional losses in the
pores of a porous absorber. The second is the viscous losses due
to high particle velocity flows across the well dividers induced
by the pressure differences in adjacent wells. This pressure
gradient mechanism results in additional low frequency
absorption.
12
Calculating the suitable volume of a hall
Room type H W L Capacity
Small 1 1.25 1.6 100 person
Average 1 1.6 2.5 55-600 p
Low ceiling 1 2.5 3.2 1000 p
Long 1 2.75 4.5 Any number
The table showing the halls arrangement according to its volume
(m3) Person /Recommended volume

Max. Optimum Min. all
5 3 2.5 Lecture
4 3 2.5 Meetings
Speech Halls
9 4.4 3.6 Theaters
11.5 7.5 2.5 Music Halls
6.1 4.5 2.8 Cinema
8 6.75 4.5 Opera
9.1 7.2 5.8 Mosque
8.2 7 5 Multipurpose Auditoriums
Volume required for each type of Halls per person is given in the
following table.
13
Solved Example 1:
Calculate the suitable dimensions of a theatre hall with a capacity of 900 audiences
.
What will be the suitable dimension for a music hall with the same capacity?
Solution:
Since the hall capacity is 900 audiences the theater hall will be of the low ceiling;
From table we get:
H : W : L = 1 : 2.5 : 3.2 ….. (1)

Assuming that h = X
The theater volume = X × 2.5 X × 3.2 X ≈ 8 X3 …… (2)
From table also we find that the optimal volume per person for theaters is
3.4 m3/p
So the theater volume = 4.4 × 900 = 3960 m3...… . (3)
From equation 2 & 3 we get:
8 X3 = 3960 m3
X3 = 3960/8 = 495 X≈8m
14
Height (H) = 1X = 8 m
Width (W) = 2.5 X = 2.5× 8 = 20 m
Length (L) = 3.2 X = 3.2 × 8 =25.6 M
GENERAL ACOUSTICAL REQUIREMENTS

Criteria for Good Acoustics
 The optimum reverberation time for an auditorium or room
of course depends upon its intended use. Around 2 seconds
is desirable for a medium-sized, general purpose auditorium
that is to be used for both speech and music. A classroom
should be much shorter, less than a second. And a recording
studio should minimize reverberation time in most cases for
clarity of recording. i.e. The optimum reverberation time of
an auditorium is dependent on the use for which it is
designed.
 The reverberation time is strongly influenced by the
absorption coefficients of the surfaces, but it also depends
upon the volume of the room as shown in the Sabine
formula. You won't get a long reverberation time with a
small room.
 Optimum reverberation time is a compromise between
clarity (requiring short reverberation time), sound intensity
(requiring a high reverberant level), and livens (requiring a
long reverberation time).
 Important subjective attributes of concert hall acoustics
include: intimacy, livens, warmth, loudness of direct sound,
reverberant sound level, clarity, diffusion or uniformity, and
freedom from noise.
15
 In addition to the attributes above, spatial impression and

early decay time are important. The spatial impression is
dependent on contributions to the early reflections from
above and especially from the sides. The initial rate of decay
of reverberation is apparently more important than the total
reverberation time.
 Echoes, flutter echoes, sound focusing, sound shadows, and
background noise should be avoided in an auditorium
design.
 The greater the early decay time (up to two seconds), the
greater the preference for the concert hall.
 Narrow halls are generally preferred to wide ones.
 There must be adequate loudness.
 Background noise levels must be low enough to avoid
interference with the listening environment.
 The room must be free from acoustical defects such as long
delayed reflections, flutter echoes, focusing, and resonance.
16
Some common acoustic defects:

1) Echo
2) Long delayed reflections
3) Shadow zone
4) Focusing
5) Flutter echo.
Acoustic requirements in auditorium halls:

A-Large concert hall:
Acoustic requirements are not the only factor deciding the internal shape
of an auditorium. Everyone needs to see the stage, for example, so good
sight lines from seats are a major requirement. Fortunately, this
requirement also helps to provide a strong component of direct sound.
17
Acoustic features of a concert hall
18
A-Small concert hall:
Concert hall was given acoustical treatments in a recent renovation.

Here are the visible features that were added:
In the Fig. above some structures to control reflections and reverberation:

The diffusers smooth out the reverberation and make the sound
reasonably uniform at different seats.
The absorptive curtains allow the reverberation time of the room to be
adjusted to control the loudness of ensembles of various sizes.
Movable panels behind the performers serve to group the early reflections
into the "sooner than 20ms" range and also (probably more important in
this small hall) help the performers hear each other.
The issue of architectural acoustics is very complex, and often not handled
well.
19
Some sound defects and their solutions:

1)Boomy bass heavy room:
Sometimes rooms seems to be too loud while in fact ,the real problem are
exaggerated low frequency, due to improper surface treatment, which
absorb high frequencies but don’t absorb low frequencies.
20
Solution:
 Remove thin curtains and carpet (especially on walls) and replace
with materials that will provide effective absorption across a broad
frequency range.
 Apply thick absorption panels at least 3" thick.
 Replace reflective ceiling tiles with 1" thick acoustically absorptive
fiberglass panels.
 Remember the more space above these panels, the better the low
frequency absorption.
2) Echoes and standing waves:

Room shape and surface materials play the biggest role in creating
unwanted echoes and frequency anomalies such as standing waves.
Parallel, flat untreated reflective surfaces such as brick or concrete block
walls facing each other.
21
Solution:
 The primary goal is to minimize parallel, reflective paths between
the surfaces in your room. This is best accomplished with a
combination of diffusive and absorptive treatments applied to walls
and ceilings.
 To treat large glass surfaces, add heavy, velour drapes over sections
of the windows.
 Walls may be splayed or angled.
3) Poor ensemble – difficult to hear :

Rooms that are described as "difficult in which to hear" are exhibiting
problems related to room shape and interior treatments. Hot spots, dead
spots, excessive reverberation, a lack of clarity or a combination of these
problems. These problem is usually treatable with the proper mix of
absorption and diffusion.
22
Surface material also plays a critical role:

a. An overly sound-absorbing space with lots of carpet, drapes and panels
can create a very dead room.
b. Conversely, a lack of absorption creates an excessively reverberant
room. A room without reflective diffusive surfaces will almost always
result in poor ensemble.
Too often absorption treatments are applied without properly integrating
diffusion. It is important to understand that for a music space to support
critical listening, qualities of absorption and diffusion must interact. While
proper absorption can balance the dynamics of frequency and control
loudness, diffusion must also be present to scatter and blend musical
sound. An acoustical consultant experienced in music rehearsal rooms will
be able to recommend the proper interaction between absorption and
diffusion.
Solution:
 The solution should be a proper balance of absorption and diffusion
on the walls and ceiling. Make sure to use proper materials that will
be effective across a broad frequency range.
 If the structural ceiling deck is less than 10 ft. above the floor , you
will need to start looking for a new space. Ceilings this low makes
proper diffusion and the resulting ensemble impossible to achieve.
 If your walls are carpeted for example, you may need to remove the
carpet. Suspended ceiling panels are another existing treatment that
may need to be altered.
 Another key element of proper ensemble is reverberation times that
give a musical space a quality of presence, and will return reflections
to the musicians with enough delay after the primary sound so that
the human ear can process the information.
23
Exercise 7:
a)Calculate the suitable dimensions of a cinema hall with a capacity of 300
audience.
b)What will be the suitable dimensions of a lecture hall with the same
capacity?
24

Lecture

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lecture

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

TECHNICAL SERVICE SYSTEMS I LECTURE 6

Technical service systems I (GSE366a)

materials along with typical levels of absorption versus

Wood Fiber Acoustical Ceiling tile Acoustical Ceiling tile

Absorptive surfaces exhibit improved low-frequency absorption

Typical types of absorbing materials:

Typical absorption curves for

The effect of spacing a

A )Wood paneling structure to absorb low frequencies .

Typical construction of a panel absorber.

Typical absorption curves of panel absorbers.

B) Wood paneling structure to absorb medium (200-800Hz) frequencies

Typical absorption curves for

C) Wood paneling structure to absorb both high and low frequencies

Construction of a wideband absorber.

Perforated Acoustic wood panels.

Wood wall panels. Perforated ceiling wood panels.

Rotating elements can vary the reverberation charecteristics of a

An inexpensive and effective method of incorporating variability

Removable acoustic panels.

he simplest and cheapest way to adjust the reverberation

The Triffsor may be used in groups to

There is a need for a surface treatment

The abffusor provides sound diffusion from a series of divided

Calculating the suitable volume of a hall

Room type H W L Capacity

Small 1 1.25 1.6 100 person

Average 1 1.6 2.5 55-600 p

Low ceiling 1 2.5 3.2 1000 p

Long 1 2.75 4.5 Any number

The table showing the halls arrangement according to its volume

(m3) Person /Recommended volume

From table we get:

H : W : L = 1 : 2.5 : 3.2 ….. (1)

GENERAL ACOUSTICAL REQUIREMENTS

 In addition to the attributes above, spatial impression and

Some common acoustic defects:

Acoustic requirements in auditorium halls:

Acoustic features of a concert hall

A-Small concert hall:

Concert hall was given acoustical treatments in a recent renovation.

In the Fig. above some structures to control reflections and reverberation:

Some sound defects and their solutions:

2) Echoes and standing waves:

3) Poor ensemble – difficult to hear :

Surface material also plays a critical role:

You might also like