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    Arc 407 - Acoustics

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    ANSLEM ALBERT
    Sound is produced by vibration and perceived through vibration of the eardrum. It can have positive or negative effects depending on the context. Acoustic design aims to control sound quality and eliminate noise interference. Key aspects of sound quality are reverberation time and frequency. The document provides formulas and recommendations for acoustic design including preferred room dimensions and forms, sound insulation of openings, walls, floors, and ceilings, and use of barriers and enclosures.

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    Arc 407 - Acoustics

    Uploaded by

    ANSLEM ALBERT
    16 views3 pages
    Sound is produced by vibration and perceived through vibration of the eardrum. It can have positive or negative effects depending on the context. Acoustic design aims to control sound quality and eliminate noise interference. Key aspects of sound quality are reverberation time and frequency. The document provides formulas and recommendations for acoustic design including preferred room dimensions and forms, sound insulation of openings, walls, floors, and ceilings, and use of barriers and enclosures.

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    ARC 407- ACOUSTICS

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    Sound is produced by vibration and perceived through vibration of the eardrum. It can have positive or negative effects depending on the context. Acoustic design aims to control sound quality and eliminate noise interference. Key aspects of sound quality are reverberation time and frequency. The document provides formulas and recommendations for acoustic design including preferred room dimensions and forms, sound insulation of openings, walls, floors, and ceilings, and use of barriers and enclosures.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    16 views3 pages

    Arc 407 - Acoustics

    Uploaded by

    ANSLEM ALBERT
    Sound is produced by vibration and perceived through vibration of the eardrum. It can have positive or negative effects depending on the context. Acoustic design aims to control sound quality and eliminate noise interference. Key aspects of sound quality are reverberation time and frequency. The document provides formulas and recommendations for acoustic design including preferred room dimensions and forms, sound insulation of openings, walls, floors, and ceilings, and use of barriers and enclosures.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    ACOUSTICS

    Introduction to Sound

    • Sound is produced when an object is set into vibration and is perceived when the
    eardrum is set into vibration by the variations in air pressure outside the ear.
    • The simplest kind of sound is the pure tone (produced by a vibrating body) for which
    the graph of air pressure plotted against time produces a sine wave.

    Sinu
    Sinusoidal Variation of air pressure at a point due to a pure tone

    Effects of Sound on the occupants of a building


    • The quality of sound produced within a building can be such that it is desired e.g.
    sound in churches, mosques, cinema halls, discotheques etc.
    • The quality of sound generated within a building can be such that it causes annoyance
    e.g. sound from factory machines and other equipment.

    Facts to note
    • There is not yet a perfect understanding of all factors determining sound quality
    • Noise is defined as any unwanted sound
    • Many acoustic problems can be reduced/removed from the point of initial design
    • Openings (doors and windows) affect sound quality
    • Sound insulators are expensive and mitigating poor acoustics after design may not
    always yield the desired effects.

    Fundamental Acoustics
    Qualities/Characteristics of Sound
    • Sound Pressure Level- Measured in decibels (dB) and can be defied as the root mean
    square of variation in air pressure due to sound.
    • Sound Power Level- Measured in Watts and is a derivative of sound pressure level. It is
    dependent on the distance, orientation, sound power level of the source and amount
    of acoustical absorption.
    • Frequency- measured in Hertz and formerly called cycles per second. Humans
    perceive sound in a range between 20Hz and 20,000Hz. Sounds that are either Ultra-
    high in frequency or ultra-low are imperceptible to the human ear.
    Extracted from METRIC PLANNING HANDBOOK; Compiled by David Adler
    • Reverberation time- measured in seconds; is defined as the time take for any sound to
    decay, reduce, or fall in level by 60dB.

    The most important aspects of sound quality


    1. Reverberation time
    2. Frequency

    Formula for Reverberation time

    Where
    T= time (seconds)
    0.16= constant
    Sα = Total surface absorption (m2)
    V= volume of space (m3)
    X= coefficient of sound attenuation in air

    In the event that the total surface absorption of several materials within a space is to be
    calculated, the Sα becomes a summation of all surface absorptions of materials present

    i.e. Sα = Σ S1α1 + S2α2 + S3α3 + S4α4 + S5α5

    Aim
    The aim of design for acoustic comfort is to eliminate or restrict noise interferences in any
    space.

    Design Recommendations
    Design recommendations can be observed in the following areas
    • Preferred Dimensions/Form
    • Openings (Doors and Windows)
    • Floors, Walls and Ceilings
    • Barriers
    • Enclosures

    Preferred Dimensions/Form
    o Preferred forms that with careful design can be successful acoustically are:
    -Traditional forms (rectangles)
    -Horse shoe
    -Fan shape
    Note:
    -Unconventional forms introduce the risk of intolerable defects that prove difficult to correct.
    -There is little evidence for ideal proportions for conventional forms
    -Large rooms are difficult to fill with sound
    -Small rooms have the problem of their dimensions being comparable to wavelengths of
    speech/music

    Extracted from METRIC PLANNING HANDBOOK; Compiled by David Adler


    Openings
    Openings reduce the sound insulation capacity of a space
    Openings should be treated with the following recommendations
    o Glazed portions of windows and doors should be fitted with double glazing
    o Doors should sound insulation around the frame (and the plenum where applicable).
    o Air-locks should be installed where necessary

    Floors, Walls and Ceilings


    o For Walls,
    -Double wall construction may be introduced where necessary
    -Wall finishes and claddings that have sound insulation properties can be applied (such as
    carpets, acoustic boards etc)

    o For Floors and Ceilings


    -Floating floors, regular floors and false ceilings should be finished with sound insulating
    materials (such as carpets, mineral wool, acoustic ceiling boards, expanded polystyrene or
    rubber).
    -Regular ceilings could have suspended ceilings created and finished with the above
    mentioned materials.

    Barriers
    Dwarf walls plant barriers are more psychological than effective. Their effectiveness is
    dependent on the frequency of sound

    Enclosures
    Enclosures
    Enclosures for machines and stationary equipment should have
    Few openings, as openings reduce the sound suppression characteristics of a space
    Should have insulation installed

    Extracted from METRIC PLANNING HANDBOOK; Compiled by David Adler

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