ACOUSTICS

IS THE SCIENCE OF SOUND

Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of sound, ultrasound and infrasound (all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids).

OR

The scientific study of the propagation, absorption, and reflection of sound waves is called acoustics.

NOISE
The sound which causes:

Annoyance, interference with speech, damage to hearing and results in reduction in efficiency of work performance is called NOISE. NOISE is a form of wave motion created by a vibrating body and is transmitted in all directions in the form of a spherical waves consisting of alternate compressions and rarefactions.

The procedure of obtaining an acceptable noise environment at a particular point is called noise control.

CLASSIFICATION OF NOISE
Noise can also be classified as:

Air borne noise: An airborne noise is one which is

transmitted through air and travels direct to the ear of the person. This type of noise travels from one part of the building to another or from outside of the building to the inside through open doors, windows or other openings or through small gaps around doors and windows.

Structure borne noise: Structure borne noise is

propagated due to impact noise of machineries or due to object sliding on floor etc. These can be reduced by damping materials. These damping materials have a resilient property by virtue of which noise is reduced. Rubber is one of the resilient material generally used.

Sound transmission: A - airborne noise source B - impact noise source 1 - direct transmission (through air and structures) for airborne noise 2 - reflection (causing reverberation) 3 - flanking transmission (through structures) for airborne noise 4 - direct transmission (through structures) for impact noise 5 - flanking transmission (through structures) for impact noise

MEANS OF NOISE CONTROL

From the point of view of a building which is to be designed, it is useful to distinguish:

External noises Internal noises

Against external noise the following means of protection are available to the designer:
1. 2. 3. 4. Distance Avoiding zones of directional sound. Screening. Planning: using non noise-sensitive parts of the building as barriers. 5. Positioning of openings away from the noise source. 6. Noise insulating building envelope.

Against noise generated within the building, the designer can take the following measures:
1. Reduction at source. 2. Enclosing and isolating the source, or use of absorbent screens. 3. Planning: separating noisy spaces from quiet ones, places indifferent areas in between. 4. Placing noisy equipment in the most massive part of the building (i.e. in a basement). 5. Reduce impact noise by covering surfaces with resilient materials. 6. Reduce noise in the space where it is generated by absorbent surfaces. 7. Reduce air borne sound transmission by airtight and noise insulating construction. 8. Reduce structure borne sound transmission by discontinuity.

SOUND

Sound is a travelling wave which is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.
For humans, hearing is normally limited to frequencies between about 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz , although these limits are not definite. The upper limit generally decreases with age. Sounds with frequencies above the range of human hearing are called ultrasound. Sounds with frequencies below the range of human hearing are called infrasound.

PHYSICS OF SOUND

The mechanical vibrations that can be interpreted as sound are able to travel through all forms of matter: gases, liquids, solids and plasmas . The matter that supports the sound is called the medium. Sound cannot travel through vacuum.
Sound is transmitted through gases, plasma, and liquids as longitudinal waves, also called compression waves. Through solids, however, it can be transmitted as both longitudinal and transverse waves.

SOUND WAVE PROPERTIES

Sound waves are characterized by the generic properties of waves, which are frequency, wavelength, period, amplitude, intensity, speed and direction.

When the wave takes place in a liquid or gaseous medium (except surface waves), the wave is called an acoustic wave. When a wave is audible, it is called a sound wave.

FREQUENCY
The frequency of a sound wave is called it pitch. High frequency sounds are said to be "high pitched" ; low frequency sounds are said to be "low pitched" .

Wavelength is inversely proportional to frequency ( 1/).

MEASUREMENT OF SOUND
The speed of sound depends upon the medium and its state.

Sound usually travels fast in gases, faster in liquids, and fastest in solids. The speed of sound in air increases with temperature.

Sound is usually measured and expressed in terms of sound

pressure level of DECIBELS (dB).

The formula for writing down the two sound pressures = 20 log (P1/P2) decibels
Where P1= the pressure of the sound wave at source. P2= the pressure of the sound wave at recipient.

S No.
1.
2. 3. 4. 5.

Type of source of noise

Light road traffic (side streets)
Medium road traffic (main streets) Heavy road traffic (highways) Rail traffic Air traffic

Noise levels in dB
60-70
70-80 80-90 90-110 90-110

TRANSMISSION OF SOUND
When sound is produced in a room it proceeds outwards in spherical waves until it strikes the boundaries of the room. Thereafter, the sound waves are reflected, transmitted and absorbed in varying amounts depending upon the characteristics of the walls of the room (thickness, weight material of wall and nature of its surface) and the frequency of the sound.

TRANSMISSION LOSS
The reduction in the intensity of airborne sound that takes place during its transmission from the source to the recipient is called transmission loss. Transmission loss or T.L is numerically equivalent to the loss in the intensity of sound expressed is decibels. Hence if 100dB and 60 dB are the sound levels measured on either side of a partition wall, the transmission loss or sound insulation of the partition wall is equal to 100dB - 60dB = 40dB

DEFECTS DUE TO REFLECTED SOUND

The behavior of the reflected sound plays an important role in sound insulation or acoustical design of a room/hall.
The main defects are:

Echoes Reverberation

ECHO
An echo is a reflection of sound, arriving at the listener some time after the direct sound.
Typical examples are the echo produced by the bottom of a well, by a building, or by the walls of an enclosed room.

A true echo is a single reflection of the sound source. The human ear cannot distinguish an echo from the original sound if the delay is less than 1/10 of a second. Thus, since the velocity of sound is approximately 343 m/s at a normal room temperature of about 20C, the reflecting object must be more than 16.2 m from the sound source at this temperature for an echo to be heard by a person at the source.

FLUTTER ECHO

A rapid succession of echoes caused by the reflection of sound back and forth between two parallel walls; initiated by a single, sharp pulse of sound. Flutter echoes may be present in long narrow spaces with parallel walls.

SOLVING FLUTTER ECHO PROBLEMS

If two opposing reflective surfaces of a room (parallel wall to parallel wall or floor to ceiling) there is always a possibility of flutter echoes. Flutter echo can be reduced in one of two ways, with the use of sound absorption or sound diffusion.

Flutter echoes can be acoustically treated with careful placement of sound absorption materials such as foam or wall panels on the walls or ceiling tiles, baffles or banners in the ceiling. The idea here is to absorb the sound wave at one or both surfaces and keep that sound wave from reflecting of the surface back towards the noise source. Flutter echoes can also be acoustically treated with the use of sound diffusers. Sound diffusers are multi-faceted, slotted or curved materials that are reflective in nature and are designed to scatter or redirect sound waves. The sound diffusers can break up flutter echo within a room by taking the sound waves and sending them in different directions and eliminating the repetitive reflections caused by reflective, parallel surfaces.

REVERBERATION

Reverberant sound is the collection of all the reflected sounds in an auditorium

REVERBERATION
A reverberation, or reverb, is created when a sound is produced in an enclosed space causing a large number of ECHOES to build up and then slowly decay as the sound is absorbed by the walls and air.
This is most noticeable when the sound source stops but the REFLECTIONS continue, decreasing in AMPLITUDE, until they can no longer be heard.

REVERBERATION TIME
The reverberation time(RT60) is the time taken for the sound energy to decay by 60dB, after the sound source has stopped. The reverberation time depends principally on the volume and absorption of the room.

The Sabine Formula is

T=0.049(V/A)
where T V A = = = Reverberation time (time required for sound to decay 60 dB after source has stopped) in seconds. Volume of room in cubic feet. Total square footage of absorption in sabins.