ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS

By :- Ar. Anuj Seth

NEED OF ACOUSTICS

DEFINITION
The word Acoustics is generally derived froma Greek word meaning to hear,refers to
generation,detection,transmission,absorption and control of sound

SOUND PRODUCTION AND TRANSMISSION

Asound isproduced when apart of the atmosphere iscompressed suddenly.

Due toelasticity of air,the particles originally disturbed in turn disturb the neighboring particles

Sound thus travels in the form of waves.

Sound cannot travel in vacuum

Characteristics of Sound & Effect on

Hearing

There arethree characteristicsof audible sound

Pitch: The pitch of a sound is thefrequency of its vibration .

Loudness: It is the strength of thesensation received throughear.

Tone quality: It is thecharacteristic of the sound which distinguishes it from

another sound of same loudness & pitch

MEASUREMENT OF SOUND

Two different units forexpressing the energy ofsound is employed.

The intensityof soundis expressedin decibel.

Phonistheunitusedformeasuringtheloudness sensation inthe ear

SOUND & VIBRATION CONTROL

Acoustical Analysis
1.Determiningtheuseofthestructure-thesubjective needs.
2.Establishingthedesirableacousticalenvironmentin each usable area.
3.Determiningthe noiseand vibration sources.
4.Studying the location and orientation of the structure andits interiorspaces
withregard tonoise and noise sources

Acoustical Design
1.Designingshapes,volumes,areas andsurfaces to accomplish what the analysis
indicates.
2.Choosing materials,systems and constructions to achieve desired result.

REVERBERATION

Definition: The persistence of sound even after the source of sound is cutoff.

The time for which sound persists even after the source is cutoff is called the
time of reverberation.

Too long a reverberation time renders the sound energy, sustained over
unduly long time.

It causes the over lapping of consecutive syllabus in speech or music.

SOUND ABSORPTION

The best known acoustical materials are acoustical absorbents.

These are light weight, porous, fuzzy typesofboards, blankets and panels.

When a sound wave strikes a surface, a part of its energy is absorbed by

friction, part of itsenergy is transmitted and the remaining part is reflected.

Reverberation directly depends on the loss of energy of sound wave due to

friction

The property of a surface by which sound energy is converted into another

form of energy is knownasAbsorption.

Absorption coefficient of asurface indicates the degree to which this surface

affects the absorption of sound.

It is thusthe ratio of energy absorbed by the areato the energy striking the
area

SABINSEQUATION
T=0.16v/A
T=reverberation time in seconds
V=volume in m3
A=total absorbing power in m2

Following points are to benoted.

It should beeconomical in construction, maintenance,waterproof and fireproof.

In a hall treated with absorbent materials, speech can be heard clearly and music can be fully
enjoyed.

All absorbent materials are found tobe soft andporous.

The absorbing capacity of the absorbent materials, depends upon the thickness of the material,
its density and frequencyof sound.

Noise level of the room provided with absorbent materials is considerably reduced

Suspended absorbers in the form of inverted cones

maybeprovidedintheceilingtomakethehallacoustically good.

Great care should be taken while selecting the covering for an absorbent
material.

In a bighall, audience is a majorabsorbing factor. This is true in high

frequency zone. Hence, low frequency absorbent materials should be
provided to achieve optimum reverberation time over a wide range of
frequency of sound

Types of absorbent materials

Hairfelt: Prof. Sabin used this material in
his
experimental
works.The
average
valueof coefficient of absorption of 25mm
thick hairfelt is0.60

Acoustic Plaster:

This is at 500cycles per seconda fibrous

plaster.

It includesgranulated
insulationmaterialmixed with cement.

For a thickness of 20mmacousticplaster

possess an absorbent coefficient of 0.30

 Acoustical

Tiles:

The absorption of the sound is uniform

from tile to tile.
They can be fixed easily
mostsuitable for small area.
Perforated

and

Plywood:

This material can be used by

formingcomposite panels with
minerals wool and cement asbestos
orwith mineral wool and hardboard. It
isgenerallysuspendedfrom trusses.
The average value of coefficient of
absorption for the former composite
panel is 0.95 and the latter is about
0.20.

Quilts and Mats:

These are prepared from mineral wool and glass wool.

They are fixed in the form of acoustical blankets.

The absorption coefficient of such mats depends on the

thickness, density and frequency of sound.

Auditorium Acoustics

The sound which is produced, should be evenly

spread over the whole area covered by the
audience.

The initial sound should be clear and distinct to

avoid the possibility of disordered speech.

For the hallto be used for themusic, the initial

sound should reach the audience with the same
intensity.

All undesired sound should be reduced.

Factors to be considered in the design of

auditorium
1.Volume:The hallshould have enoughvolume, keeping in view the
intensities of soundslikely to be developed in the hall.
For halls to be used only for music, the volume should be large.
2.Shape:It involvesthegeometricalaspects ofthe hall. The paths followed
by reflected sound wavesare traced and concentrations of sound waves, if any
are noted.
Concave walls tend toconcentrate sound waves and hence not good for acoustic
purposes.

Plainwalls are better.

Convex walls are excellent and are used to reduce the

echoes to the minimum extent.

3.SoundAbsorption:

Adequate absorbing surfaces shouldbe provided in

the room to controlreverberation.

Careful study of the hall should be made before

suggesting the type of absorbent material and its
location in the hall.

Defects and their remedies

1.Reverberation:
This is the most common defectin many auditoriums.
The sound once created prolongs for a longer duration resulting in confusion
with the sound created.
The remedy of this defect is tocorrect the time of reverberation by suitably
installing absorbing materials.2.Formation of echoes:
When the reflecting surfaces are situated at a distance greater than 15m.
This defect can be removed by selecting proper shape and byproviding rough
and porous interior surfaces to disperse the energy of echoes.

Sound foci

Inconcave reflecting interior surfaces, certain spots are formed where reflected sound waves
meet andcreate the sound oflarge intensity.

This canbe eliminated by avoiding curvilinear interiorsby providing absorbent materials on

focusing areas.

4.Dead spots:

Due tohigh concentration of reflected sound at sound foci,there is deficiency of the reflected
sound at some other points.

The sound level at the dead spotsare generally inadequatefor satisfactory hearing.

By the installation of suitable diffuses to have evendistribution of sound.

5.Loudness:

Due to lack of reflecting surfaces near the source of

sound and excessive absorption of sound.

Can be corrected by arranging hard reflecting surfaces

near the source of sound and adjusting the absorption of
the hall to provide optimum time of reverberation.

6.ExteriorNoise:

It is due to the poor insulation and hence noise enters

through loose doors and windows.

Remedy is to provide suitable insulation to the various

components of the auditorium.

ACOUSTICS OF STUDIOS
Following are the points forits efficient working:
Noise level in the studio should be brought down to 20-30 db.
The echoes should be completely eliminated.
The finish on the outside surfaces of the building should be of
sound reflecting material.
Partition wall and exterior walls of the studio should be
sufficiently rigid to resist vibrations and to prevent resonance.

Provision of windows should be minimum to prevent the

transfer of noise.

Air conditioning machinery and otherequipments should

be suitably insulated so that vibrations are not carried to
the working chambers.

If more than one studio in the building, it is preferable to

locate all of themon the same floor.

Heavy curtains may be used with advantage to control the

time of reverberation in the studio.

1. Basic requirements for good acoustics

The branch of science which deals with the planning of a building to provide
the best quality audible sound to audience is termed as architectural
acoustics or acoustics of the building.

A building or the hall designed for the large audience should take care of
certain features so the audible sound is exact replica of the source. Any hall
having the good acoustics should have following features:

Acoustic of Buildings