ACOUSTICS

Science of sound and noise control

 SOUND
Sound is a wave which is created by vibrating
objects and propagated through a medium from one
location to another
OR
Sound is a vibration in an elastic medium such as
air, water, most building materials etc.
OR
Sound is a physical disturbance/fluctuation of air
pressure set up in an elastic medium and is
recognized by sensations caused in the human ear
SOURCE—MEDIUM—RECEPTOR/DETECTOR
THE NATURE OF SOUND
Sound is a Mechanical Wave
The example of a slinky wave

A wave can be described as a disturbance that travels

through a medium, transporting energy from one location
to another location.
The medium is simply the material through which the
disturbance is moving; it can be thought of as a series of
interacting particles
Sound wave is a disturbance which is transported through
a medium via the mechanism of particle interaction, a
sound wave is characterized as a mechanical wave
Sound is a Longitudinal Wave

A longitudinal waves are waves in which the

motion of the individual particles of the medium are
in a direction which is parallel to the direction
which the wave moves
A transverse waves are waves in which the motion
of the individual particles of the medium are in a
direction perpendicular to the direction which the
wave moves.
Sound waves are longitudinal waves
because particles of the medium through
which the sound is transported vibrate
parallel to the direction which the sound
moves.
Sound is a Pressure Wave

The longitudinal motion of the air particles, there

are regions in the air where the air particles are
compressed together and other regions where the
air particles are spread apart. These regions are
known as compressions and rarefactions.
The compressions are regions of high air pressure
while the rarefactions are regions of low air
pressure.
Since a sound wave consists of a repeating
pattern of high pressure and low pressure
regions moving through a medium, it is
sometimes referred to as a pressure wave
 PROPOGATION OF SOUND

Consider the air close to the surface of some vibrating object.

As the surface moves forwards, the air molecules next to the
surface are pushed closer together to form an area of increased
pressure. The air cannot move back into its original position as
the space is now occupied by the advancing surface. The
increased pressure forces some of this air to move outwards,
which then pushes the air further out closer together and so on,
creating a pressure wave moving away from the surface. As the
vibrating surface recedes, it creates an area of reduced pressure,
drawing the nearby air back towards it. For us to be able to
perceive this as sound, these cycles have to occur many
hundreds or even thousands of times a second.
 PROPERTIES OF SOUND
For a transverse wave, wavelength is commonly measured
from one wave crest to the next adjacent wave crest, or from
one wave trough to the next adjacent wave trough

A longitudinal wave consists of a repeating pattern of

compressions and rarefactions. Thus, the wavelength is
commonly measured as the distance from one compression
to the next adjacent compression or the distance from one
rarefaction to the next adjacent rarefaction.
 PROPERTIES OF SOUND
Sound Wave
If a graph is plotted showing pressure maxima
and minima at any given instant, we can observe
sound propagation in form of sinusoidal wave.
Properties
From this graph, though, the wave motion of a
sound can be described in terms of its Amplitude,
Frequency, Velocity and Wavelength.
 AMPLITUDE
The amplitude of a wave refers to the maximum amount of
displacement of a a particle on the medium from its rest/mean
position
Sound wave is an energy transport phenomenon which
transports energy along a medium without transporting matter
The amount of energy carried by a wave is related to the
amplitude of the wave
A high energy wave is characterized by a high amplitude; a
low energy wave is characterized by a low amplitude

A sound of 1/100 mm amplitude is enough to be audible,

while a sound of 1/10 mm amplitude is quiet a loud sound.
 FREQUENCY
The frequency of a wave refers to how often the particles of the medium
vibrate when a wave passes through the medium
OR
The frequency (f) is the number of complete cycles of a medium per a given
amount of time.
Unit for frequency is the Hertz (abbreviated Hz) where 1 Hz is equivalent to 1 cycle/second.
Thus a 1kHz (1000Hz) sound would have 1000 waves pass a point.

The period (T) of a wave is the time for a particle on a medium to make one
complete cycle.
Period, being a time, is measured in units of time such as seconds, hours,
days or years

(a frequency of 63 Hz has a period of 1/63 = 0.02 s/cycle which is roughly 30 times longer than
the period at 2000 Hz)
 FREQUENCY
Pitch is the subjective response of human hearing to
frequency.
Low frequencies ---- ‘boomy’
High frequencies ---- ‘screechy’ or ‘hissy’
Audible 20 Hz - 20,000 Hz
Frequency:
The frequency range is divided into sections (bands). One
common standard division is into 10 octave bands of
frequency ratio of 2:1known by their center frequencies:
31.5, 63, 125, 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, 8000 and
16000 Hz.
 WAVELENGTH
The wavelength of a wave is the length of one
complete cycle of a wave
For a transverse wave, the wavelength is
determined by measuring from crest to crest
For a longitudinal wave, a wavelength
measurement is made by measuring the distance
from a compression to the next compression or
from a rarefaction to the next rarefaction.
Sound Wave
 SPEED OF THE SOUND
The speed of a sound wave refers to how fast the
disturbance is passed from particle to particle.
The speed of a wave is defined as the distance
which a point on a wave (such as a compression
or a rarefaction) travels per unit of time, it is often
expressed in units of meters/second
V=*f
Where:
V = velocity (m/s),
= wavelength (m) and
f = frequency (Hz).
This varies between mediums and is also dependant on
temperature. Assuming air acts as an ideal gas, its velocity
relates to temperature as follows:
V = 331.5 + (0.6 T)
Where:
V = velocity (m/s) and
T = air temperature (°C).
V = 331 m/s + (0.6 m/s/C)*T v
= 331 m/s + (0.6 m/s/C)*20 C
V = 331 m/s + 12 m/s
V = 343 m/s (1130 ft/s) (750 miles/hr)

A doubling of the wavelength results in a halving of the

frequency; yet the wave speed is not changed. The
speed of a sound wave depends on the properties of the
medium
 MEASURABLE CHARACTERISTICS
There are actually three distinct measurable characteristics
of any sound:
•Power(Watts)
Measures the energy output by a sound source, which is
basically the sound's ability to do work.
•Pressure(Pa)
Measures fluctuations about the local atmospheric
pressure caused by the sound. The overall pressure is
usually measured using a root-mean-square (rms)
technique rather that peak-to-peak measures as the
pressure fluctuates between positive and negative.
•Intensity(W/m²)
The amount of sound energy passing within a specific
cross-sectional area taken normal to the direction of
propagation.
Sound level measurements are therefore generally
referenced to a standard threshold of hearing, measured
at 1000 Hz. For a standard human ear, this threshold
can be stated in terms of sound intensity as:

Sound Frequency: 20 Hz - 20,000 Hz

Sound Intensity: 10-12 to 10 W/m²
Sound Pressure: 2x10-5 to 200 N/m2 (Pa)
 SOUND BEHAVIOUR IN ROOMS
Consider a sound source situated within a bounded space.
When activated, sound waves will propagate away from the
source until they encounter one of the room's boundaries.
The behavior of a waves at that boundary is described as its
boundary behavior.
There are essentially four possible boundary behaviors by
which a sound wave could behave:
1. reflection (the bouncing off of the boundary),
2. diffraction (the bending around the obstacle without
crossing over the boundary),
3. transmission (the crossing of the boundary into the
new material or obstacle), and
4. refraction (occurs along with transmission and is
characterized by the subsequent change in speed and
direction).
 REFLECTION
Reflection is the return of a sound wave from a
surface.
If the surface dimension x is larger than about 4
times the wavelength  of the impinging sound wave,
the angle of incidence will be equal to angle of
reflection. (x > 4)
Eg. 1000 Hz --- 1.1ft wavelength --- 4.5ft surface
dimension (length or width)
fig. X >
fig. Concave and convex surface
Plane wave
reflection
Point source of sound
reflecting from a plane
surface.
When sound waves from a
point source strike a plane
wall, they produce reflected
spherical wavefronts as if
there were an "image" of the
sound source at the same
distance on the other side of
the wall.
 Reflection from Concave
Surface

Any concave surface will tend

to focus the sound waves which
reflect from it. This is generally
undesirable in auditorium
acoustics because it produces a
"hot spot" and takes sound
energy away from surrounding
areas. Even dispersion of sound
is desirable in auditorium
design, and a surface which
spreads sound is preferable to
one which focuses it.
 DIFFUSION
Diffusion is the scattering or random redistribution
of a sound wave from a surface.
Surface depth of hard-surfaced materials are
comparable to the wavelengths of the sound (x  )
The direction of the incident sound wave is
changed as it strikes a sound-diffusing material.
Fig.
 DIFFRACTION
Diffraction is the bending or “flowing” of a sound
wave around an object or through a opening.
The sound is diffracted when passing through an
opening smaller than its wavelength.
Range of audible sound wavelength is 20mm to
18000mm i.e. the lower frequency sounds are
generally diffracted.
 DIFFRACTION
If a sound (plane wave) of larger wavelength than
the size of an opening falls on it a spherical wave
comes out of the opening. The opening behaves as
a source of sound for the secondary wave. Fig.
If a sound (plane wave) passes through a larger
aperture as compared to its wavelength, it emerges
through the opening with little diffraction. Fig.
When the size of the intervening obstacle is large
in comparison to the wavelength of the incident
sound, it casts sound shadow. Fig.
Important parts of our experience with sound involve diffraction.
The fact that you can hear sounds around corners and around
barriers involves both diffraction and reflection of sound.
Diffraction in such cases helps the sound to "bend around" the
obstacles
You may perceive diffraction to have a dual nature, since the same
phenomenon which causes waves to bend around obstacles causes
them to spread out past small openings. This aspect of diffraction
also has many implications . Eg we can hear if standing outside
door room
Another implication of diffraction is the fact that a wave which is
much longer than the size of an obstacle, like the post in the
auditorium above, cannot give you information about that obstacle
 SOUND REFRACTION
Phenomenon of change in direction of
movement due to velocity variation over the
wave front.
Because of temperature variation in the
atmosphere, the relative densities and
velocities of the air introduce corresponding
changes in the sound velocity over the wave
front. Therefore, the resultant direction of
the sound wave is different from its original
direction.
These visualizations may help in understanding the nature of refraction
Refraction is the bending of waves when they enter a medium where their speed is
different .
Not only does the direction of march change, the separation of the marchers is
decreased. When applied to waves, this implies that the direction of propagation of
the wave is deflected toward the right and that the wavelength of the wave is
decreased
 SOUND REFRACTION
If the temperature increases from the ground
surface upwards, the sound waves are refracted
down and tend to graze the ground surface.
If the temperature gradient is reverse the sound
waves tend to travel away from the ground.
If the sound wave are emitted against the
prevailing wind direction, the tend to fly off the
ground. Fig.
If the sound wave are propagated along the
prevailing wind direction, the sound waves creep
along the ground. Fig.
 If the air above the earth is
warmer than that at the
surface, sound will be bent
back downward toward the
surface by refraction.

Sound propagates in all directions from a point source.

Normally, only that which is initially directed toward the listener
can be heard, but refraction can bend sound downward.
Normally, only the direct sound is received. But refraction can
add some additional sound, effectively amplifying the sound.
Natural amplifiers can occur over cool lakes.
 SOUND ABSORPTION
Loss of incident sound energy because of its conversion to
heat due to frictional resistance inside the pores of the
material.
More porous and fibrous nature of material, more is its
absorbing capacity.
The sound absorption coefficient of material (), is the
ratio of the sound absorbed by that material to the total
incident sound energy on a unit area of the material.
Thus a perfectly absorbent material would have an
absorption coefficient of 1. Sound absorption coefficient of
an open window is 1.
The total absorption provided by the material of surface
area A sq.mts. And sound absorption coefficient  is
obtained in Sabins
Total absorption S =  . A Sabins or sq.mts.
 THE DECAY OF SOUND
If a constant sound source is abruptly switched off, the sound
intensity at any point will not suddenly disappear, but will fade
away gradually as the indirect sound field begins to die off
gradually.
This occurs because of the path difference between the direct
sound and all the different reflections. Even after the source has
been turned off, some of its energy will still be bouncing around
on complex reflection paths. As more surfaces are hit, more
energy is lost and the reflections get weaker and weaker.
The rate of this decay is a function of room shape and the
amount/position of absorbent material.
The decay in highly absorbent rooms will not take very long at all,
whilst in large reflective rooms, it can take quite a long time
indeed.
 REVERBERATION
Reverberant sound is the collection of all the reflected
sounds in an auditorium

It is a desirable property of auditoriums to the extent that

it helps to overcome the inverse square law drop-off of
sound intensity in the enclosure. However, if it is
excessive, it makes the sounds run together with loss of
articulation - the sound becomes muddy, garbled.
 REVERBERATION
The prolongation of sound before it decays to a
negligible intensity is called reverberation.
The time for reverberation to completely die away
will depend upon how loud the sound was to begin
with, and will also depend upon the acuity of the
hearing of the observer
To quantitatively characterize the reverberation,
the parameter called the reverberation time is
used.
 REVERBERATION TIME
A standard reverberation time has been defined as:
The time taken by the sound to diminish to one-
millionth (106) of its original intensity is called
reverberation time (RT) OR
The RT is the time taken for a continuous sound
within a room to decay by 60 dB after being
abruptly switched off and is given by:
W.C. Sabine arrived at an empirical relationship between the
volume of an auditorium, the amount of absorptive material
within it and a quantity which he called the Reverberation
Time (RT).
The reverberation time increases with the volume of the hall in
direct proportion but decreases with the increasing total sound
absorption in the hall.
From this ratio, and the fact that each member of the audience
increases the amount of absorption in the auditorium, volumes of
rooms can be specified in m³ per person, which is a very useful
figure at the initial stage of design.

Excessive values of reverberation time keep the sound or noise

alive unnecessarily for a long duration.

Bigger the hall, the larger must be the value of reverberation

time, but not exceeding the optimum level.
 Architecture for Acoustics
The architecture of the enclosure should contribute as much as
possible to overcoming the inverse square law and the bass loss
problem.
Desirable acoustic properties of the auditorium can be contributed
by its architecture.

1.Projection of sound
2.Clarity
3.Balance of highs and lows
4.Even dispersion
5.A feeling of intimacy and musical presence
Projection of sound
A good auditorium will accomplish effective projection of the
sound to the rear of the auditorium so that those distant listeners
will not experience the extreme loss of sound level caused by
the inverse square law .
Long reverberation time
Another significant contributor will be a high, reflective ceiling to
reflect sound to the back of the auditorium
Clarity
While the richness and fullness added by auditorium reverberation is
desirable, such reverberation decreases clarity of articulation. So
fullness and richness work against clarity, and a
reasonable reverberation time must be reached by an appropriate
compromise of clarity vs fullness
Clarity can also be diminished by undesirable echoes. At specific
locations in auditoriums, clarity can be diminished by anything
which blocks part of the direct sound and therefore increases the
fraction of reverberant sound reaching a person.
Even dispersion
Sound is more pleasing if it is evenly dispersed, with no prominent
echoes, no significant "dead spots" or "live spots" in the auditorium.
This even dispersion is usually achieved by avoiding any focusing
surfaces and avoiding large flat areas which reflect sound into the
listing area. Sometimes it is desirable to add some anti-focusing
surfaces.
Musical Presence/ intimacy
to imply that the listener felt more a part of the performance and not
isolated from it. One physical factor which has been correlated with
such preferences is the time between the direct sound and the first
reflected sound which reaches a listener.
Anti-focusing surfaces.
Since even dispersion of sound is highly desirable in an auditorium, it
may be necessary to take steps to overcome any focusing surfaces. If
an architect decides that some curved surface is desirable for some
reason, then the undesirable focusing effect may be partially
overcome by covering the curved surface with anti-focusing surfaces.
 ACOUSTICS

Sound Absorbing Material

And
Acoustical Defects
 Sound Absorption
Sound energy is 'absorbed' when it is converted to
another form of energy - heat and, to a much
lesser extent, kinetic energy.
Conversion to heat results from the actions of
friction as air molecules interact with other
materials and the resistance of various materials to
movement and deformation.
The amount of heat generated is minimal as the
amount of sound energy is also quite small if you
consider it in Watts
 Different Types of Absorption
and Absorbers
• Porous Absorbers (Acoustical Blankets, Rolls,
Acoustical plasters, Curtains)
• Membrane Absorbers (Vibrating Panels)
– Perforated Panel Absorbers
• Cavity Absorbers (Helmholtz Resonators or
Volume Resonators)
• Variable Absorbers
• Space Absorbers
 Porous Absorbers
Mineral wool, rock wool, fibre-board or
plastic foams have an open pore structure.
Conversion to heat is produced by friction
when vibrating air molecules are forced
through the pores and interact with the pore
walls.
These are effective primarily for high
frequencies with short wavelengths.
ABS_PORO.SWF
If the thickness of the absorber is much less than
one quarter of the wavelength, they will have little
effect.
A porous sheet placed some distance away from a
solid wall will have almost the same effect as a
thicker absorber. The maximum effect is achieved
when the distance to the wall surface from the
centre of the absorber equals 1/4 the wavelength
and is restricted to a comparatively narrow
frequency band. This is because the maximum
particle velocities of both the incident and
reflected waves will occur within the porous
material.
 Membrane Absorbers
Membrane absorbers may be either flexible sheets stretched
over supports or rigid panels, both mounted at some distance
from the front of a solid wall.
Conversion to heat takes place through the resistance of the
membrane to rapid flexing and to the resistance of the
enclosed air to compression.
In practice, the method of fixing and the stiffness of the
panels will also have some effect as the panel itself will tend
to vibrate. o it is rare to find such a system with an effective
absorption coefficient greater than 0.5.
Membrane absorbers are most effective at low frequencies
which is really why they are used.
ABS_MEMB.SWF ABS_MEM2.SWF
 Cavity Absorbers

These are simply air containers with a narrow

neck. The air within the cavity has a spring-like
effect at the particular resonant frequency of the
enclosed air volume
ABS_CAVI.SWF
These absorbers give a very high absorption
coefficient in a very narrow frequency band. This
can be broadened slightly by placing a porous
material lining the inside of the cavity.
 Perforated Panel Absorbers

The panel itself may be plywood, hardboard,

plasterboard or metal, and may also act as a
membrane absorber.
The perforations, holes or slots with the air space
behind them will act as multiple cavity resonators,
improved with some porous absorber.
Most of the broad spectrum commercially
available acoustic materials fall into this category.
ABS_PERF.SWF
 Variable Absorber
Rotatable cylinders with absorbing and reflecting
surfaces are sometimes built in the wall. The
required surface can be brought forth in the room
by rotating the cylinder around the axis.
Sometimes hinged panels are built in the wall.
These panels have sound absorbing surface on one
side and sound reflecting surface on other. The
required surface can be exposed by opening or
closing the panel around hinges.
Space Absorber or Suspended Absorbers

Suspended absorber are used only if no other

materials can be conveniently used near the source
of sound or noise.
They include suspended panel absorbers or
conical shells or other shapes of absorbing
materials.
ACOUSTICAL DEFECTS IN AN
ENCLOSED SPACE
 Various Acoustical Defects
1. Echo
2. Flutter Echo
3. Sound Concentration (Hot spot)
4. Sound Shadow (Dead spot)
5. Couple Space
6. Whispering gallery
7. Creep
8. Reverberation
Echo
These are probably the most serious and most
common defect. They occur when sound is
reflected off a boundary with sufficient magnitude
and delay to be perceived as another sound,
distinct from the direct sound. As a rule, if the
delay is greater than 1/17 sec (20m) for speech
and 1/12 sec (29m) for music then that reflection
will be a problem.
ECHO.SWF
Solution: Either alter the geometry of the
offending surface or apply absorber or diffusion.
Flutter Echo
It is caused by repetitive interreflection of
sound energy between opposing parallel or
concave sound reflecting surfaces. Flutter is
normally heard as a high frequency ringing
or buzzing.
Solution: Reshaping by avoiding the
parallel surfaces, providing deep sound-
absorbing treatment or breaking up smooth
surfaces with splayed. A 1:10 splay (or >5º
tilt) of one of the parallel walls.
Sound Concentration
Sometime referred to as 'hot-spots', these
are caused by focussed reflections off
concave surfaces. The intensity of the sound
at the focus point is unnaturally high and
always occurs at the expense of other
listening areas.
Solution: Treat with absorber or diffusers,
redesign it to focus the sound outside or
above the enclosure.
Sound Shadowing
Most noticeable under a balcony, it is basically the
situation where a significant portion of the
reflected sound is blocked by a protrusion that
itself doesn't contribute to the reflected
component. In general, avoid balconies with a
depth exceeding twice their height as they will
cause problems for the rearmost seats beneath
them.
Solution: Redesign the protruding surface to
provide reflected sound to the affected seats or get
rid of the protrusion.
DEAD_SPO.SWF
Coupled Spaces
When an auditorium is connected to an adjacent
space which has a substantially different RT, the
two rooms will form a coupled space. As long as
the airflow is unrestricted between the two spaces,
the decay of the most reverberant space will be
noticeable within the least reverberant. This will
be particularly disturbing to those closest to the
interconnection.
Solution: Add some form of acoustic separation (a
screen or a door) or match the RT of both rooms.
Whispering Gallery
Sound energy is reflected along the domed ceiling
surface allowing persons at opposite ends of the
rotunda (>54m apart) to easily converse at whisper
voice level; however persons only few mts. Away
from the speaker cannot hear the conversation.

Creep
Sound energy is reflected along smooth concave
surfaces
Solution: Sound absorbing material is treated
along the enclosure.