ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS

(also known as room acoustics and building acoustics) is the science and engineering of achieving
a good sound within a building and is a branch of acoustical engineering. The first application of
modern scientific methods to architectural acoustics was carried out by Wallace Sabine in
the Fogg Museum lecture room who then applied his new found knowledge to the design
of Symphony Hall, Boston.

Architectural acoustics can be about achieving good speech intelligibility in a theatre, restaurant
or railway station, enhancing the quality of music in a concert hall or recording studio, or
suppressing noise to make offices and homes more productive and pleasant places to work and
live in. Architectural acoustic design is usually done by acoustic consultants.

SOUND ABSORPTION
When a sound wave strikes one of the
surfaces of a room, some of the sound
energy is reflected back into the room and
some penetrates the surface. Parts of the
sound wave energy are absorbed by
conversion to heat energy in the material,
while the rest is transmitted through. The
level of energy converted to heat energy
depends on the sound absorbing
properties of the material.
A material's sound absorbing
properties are expressed by the sound
absorption coefficient, α, (alpha), as a
function of the frequency. α ranges from 0 (total reflection) to 1.00 (total absorption).

The sound absorption coefficient is normally measured by the room method. The
measurements are done in a large room with a diffuse sound field, i.e. the sound has evenly
distributed angles of incidence against the test surface.

The measuring method follows an international standard designated EN ISO 354. The
corresponding American standard is ASTM C 423 (measurements according to this often show
slightly higher figures). The room method is normally used for presenting product information
(as in this publication).
Sound absorbing properties are classified according to EN ISO 11654, which gives the sound
absorption classes.

MECHANICAL SOUND ABSORPTION

Here is the list of the best materials and their characteristics so you can choose one according to
what you need.

1. Acoustic Foam

Acoustic foam is one of the most commonly used

materials due to its easy installation and its
affordability as well as its effective absorption of a
sound.

Usually, the foam consists of an attractive fabric and

design with different patterns, which contributes to
the aesthetics of your home.

However, it is not of great help if used in huge spaces since it is best to install it in small and
middle-sized ones, like rooms or offices.

Specifically, there are a few acoustic foam panel forms, such as:

 Convoluted acoustic foam panel - It has an egg crate design so it is ideal for a recording
studio, for instance. It is both aesthetic and successful at reducing a sound.
 Aluminum-facing panel - This is specially made for high-heat spaces and environments,
since it is strong and provides protection from heat.
 Fabric-covered foam panels - It enables acoustical performance everywhere, even in
theaters CLICK FOR PRICE
2. Acoustic Fabric Panels

Acoustic Fabric Panels are made of wood frame wrapped in fabric with
some other sound absorber, such as high-density fiberglass, or foam.

A dense fiberglass panel is one of the widely used materials as bass

trap, dealing with low frequencies of a sound.

By successfully controlling reverberation and echo they provide an

effective and superior sound absorption.

Also, the fabric can be attractive so you have a lot of colors and designs to
choose from contributing to decoration of a place.

3. Sound Absorbing Underlayment

Sound Absorbing Underlayment materials could be

foam, vinyl, rubber. They are dense and they can
provide sound absorption but also soundproofing.

Generally, they are applied between subflooring

(usually concrete or plywood) and flooring (could be
hardwood or laminate).

This material comes in various forms, such as acoustic

foam, felt, plywood, but felt is one of the best solutions
for you because it is very effective in reducing sound
absorption.

Underlayment makes the sound within the room much softer, and the footsteps are immensely
reduced as well as the noise from underneath.
4. Acoustic Partitions

Acoustic partitions could serve for different purposes,

and they could be lightweight or heavyweight, which
are usually made of 100% polyester.

Since lightweight ones are easy to move around, they

could be used to divide a room, for example, when you
need a private and quiet space.

Their colors and sized are various, perfect for homes,

restaurants, offices, and many other.

5. Acoustic Cotton Batts

Acoustic cotton batts are made of natural cotton fibers

which makes it softer and with a less chance for germ
infection. Also, it may be made of a high percentage of
recycled cotton.

The fact about its hygienic benefit is of importance for

people with children since the material is friendly to a
human skin.

Further, it is resistant to fungi, mold but also to flames.

Therefore, it may be considered to be one of the best
sound absorbers and the most effective and affordable ones.

It is easy to install it whether in offices, homes, auditoriums, theatres, or wherever you need
sound absorption.
6. Acoustic Mineral Wool

Acoustic mineral wool is of double usefulness because it

may serve for both sound absorption and
soundproofing.

Also, it is tolerant of high heat as well as water, which

means that it is fire-resistant and it does not absorb
moisture.

It is lightweight, easy to install, not pricey, versatile, and

it effectively reduces reverberation or some other
unwanted noise.

It may be found in the form of a glass made of a large, rigid, and fibrous board suitable for
interior panels, ceiling panels, office partitions, appliances, furniture, machine rooms.

7. Hanging Baffles

Hanging baffles may not be the most effective solution

for your sound absorption problem, but it is certainly
worth trying since it manages to reduce the echo while
it also contributes to the aesthetics of your home.

They are easy to install with chains and hooks.

Also, they are pretty useful when you do not have

enough wall space because they actually hang from a
ceiling to create soundproof insulation.

They present a great option for restaurants, hotels,

cafeterias, offices, or wherever you want to add the
artistic note to a space and improve its acoustics at the same time.
TYPES OF ACOUSTIC MATERIAL
 Acoustic plaster.
 Acoustic tiles.
 Perforated plywood.
 Fibrous plaster.
 Staw board.
 Pulp board.
 Compressed fibre board.
 Hair felt.
 Cork board slabs.
 Foam glass.
 Asbestos cement boards.
 Thermocoal.
 Foam plastic.
 Chip boards.
 Gasket cork sheet.
 Hair felt.
 Acoustic foam.

Properties of Acoustic Material

 Sound energy is captured and adsorbed.

 It has a low reflection and high absorption of sound.
 Higher density improves the sound absorption efficiency at lower frequencies.
 Higher density material help to maintain a low flammability performance. Hence acoustic
material should have higher density.
 It controls the sound and noise levels from machinery and other sources for
environmental amelioration and regulatory compliance.
 Acoustic material reduces the energy of sound waves as they pass through.
 It suppresses echoes, reverberation, resonance and reflection.

Uses of Acoustic Material

 Acoustic materials can be used for noise reduction and noise absorption.
 It makes the sound more audiable which is clear to listen without any disturbances.
 It suppresses echoes, reverboration, reflection and resonance.
 Important specifications for noise reduction and noise absorption products include noise
attenuation and noise reduction coefficient.
 A vinyl acoustic barrier blocks controls airborne noise (street traffic, voices, music) from
passing through a wall ceiling or floor.
 Acoustic foam and acoustic ceiling tiles absorb sound so as to minimize echo and
reverboration within a room.
 Sound proof doors and windows are designed to reduce the transmission of sound.
 Building techniques such as double wall construction or cavity wall construction and
staggering wall studs can improve the sound proofing of a room.
 A sound proof wall (treated by a accurate material) can incorporate sound proofing and
acoustic materials to meet desired sound transmission class (STC) values.
DIFRACTION OF SOUND TRANSMITTED THROUGH OPENING

Diffraction in Sound

Diffraction of sound waves

is commonly observed; we
notice sound diffracting
around corners, allowing
us to hear others who are
speaking to us from
adjacent rooms.

Diffraction: the bending of waves around small* obstacles and the spreading out of waves beyond
small* openings.

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. The fact that
diffraction is more pronounced with longer wavelengths implies that you can hear low
frequencies around obstacles better than high frequencies, as illustrated by the example of
a marching band on the street. Another common example of diffraction is the contrast in sound
from a close lightning strike and a distant one. The thunder from a close bolt of lightning will be
experienced as a sharp crack, indicating the presence of a lot of high frequency sound. The
thunder from a distant strike will be experienced as a low rumble since it is the long wavelengths
which can bend around obstacles to get to you. There are other factors such as the higher air
absorption of high frequencies involved, but diffraction plays a part in the experience.

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. Besides being able to hear the sound when you are
outside the door as in the illustration above, this spreading out of sound waves has
consequences when you are trying to soundproof a room. Good soundproofing requires that a
room be well sealed, because any openings will allow sound from the outside to spread out in
the room - it is surprising how much sound can get in through a small opening. Good sealing of
loudspeaker cabinets is required for similar reasons.

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.
A fundamental principle of imaging is that you cannot see an object which is smaller than the
wavelength of the wave with which you view it. You cannot see a virus with a light microscope
because the virus is smaller than the wavelength of visible light. The reason for that limitation
can be visualized with the auditorium example: the sound waves bend in and reconstruct the
wavefront past the post. When you are several sound wavelengths past the post, nothing about
the wave gives you information about the post. So your experience with sound can give you
insights into the limitations of all kinds of imaging processes.

The long wavelength sounds of the bass drum will diffract around the corner more efficiently than
the more directional, short wavelength sounds of the higher pitched instruments.
 Loudspeaker Sound Contours

One consequence of diffraction is that sound

from a loudspeaker will spread out rather than
just going straight ahead. Since the bass
frequencies have longer wavelengths compared
to the size of the loudspeaker, they will spread
out more than the high frequencies. The curves
at left represent equal intensity contours at
90 decibels for sound produced by a small
enclosed loudspeaker. It is evident that the high
frequency sound spreads out less than the low
frequency sound.

These equal intensity curves were measured in

an undergraduate sound laboratory experiment.

Note that the wavelength of the 100 Hz sound is about 3.45 meters, much larger than the
speaker, while that of the 2000 Hz sound is about 18 cm, about the size of the speaker.

The realities of diffraction may affect your choice of loudspeakers for your personal listening.
Very small loudspeakers are often promoted as having sound just as good as a large
loudspeaker. There is reason to be skeptical about such claims on physical grounds. Large
speakers are inherently more efficient in producing bass frequencies into a room just because
their size compares more favorably with the wavelengths of those sounds. Even if that basic
problem is overcome by electronic equalization of the sound input to the speakers and the
design of the crossover networks which provide the signal to the different components of the
loudspeaker, there is no escaping the implications of diffraction. Small loudspeakers will spread
the bass frequencies considerably more than the high frequencies. This difference between the
equal-loudness patterns of highs and lows becomes more and more pronounced as you
produce smaller and smaller speakers. So you might conceivably get equivalent sound directly
on-axis with the speaker, but as you move away from the axis, the high frequencies will drop off
more rapidly than the lows. Practically, this limits the audience region for optimal listening. It
might be fairly said that if the speakers are just for you, you might be satisfied with the small
speakers because you can position yourself at the ideal-listener location. But if you have guests,
they will not be as satisfied because of the greater off-axis variations from the small speakers.
UNIVERSITY OF PERPETUAL HELP SYSTEM DALTA MOLINO CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE

UTILITIES 3
(ASSIGNMENT)

SUBMITTED BY:
CAYCO,ELYSSA DANIELLE S
BS-ARCHITECTURE 5

SUBMITTED TO:
ARCH’T FELIPE BALASBAS JR.