Decay rates and wall absorption at low frequencies

This paper is concerned with evaluating the error of conventional estimates of the boundary absorption of rectangular enclosures, with particular reference to reverberation room sound power measurements. The reverberation process is examined theoretically; the relative contributions to the decay rate from different modes in a rectangular room are calculated from an ensemble average over rooms with nearly the same dimensions. It is shown that the traditional method of determining the absorption of the walls of reverberation rooms systematically underestimates the absorption at low frequencies; the error is computed from the ensemble average. Finally, an unbiased estimate of the sound power radiated by a source in a reverberation room is derived. This estimate involves measurement of the initial decay rates of the room and is, unlike the usual reverberation room sound power estimate, neither based on statistical diffuse field considerations nor on the normal mode theory.     

Applicability of locally reacting boundary conditions to porous material layer backed by rigid wall: Wave-based numerical study in non-diffuse sound field with unevenly distributed sound absorbing surfaces

To clarify the applicability of locally reacting boundary conditions in wave-based numerical analyses of sound fields in rooms, we numerically analyzed a non-diffuse sound field in a room with unevenly distributed sound absorbing surfaces and investigated the differences between the extended and local reactions. Each absorbing surface was a porous material layer backed by a rigid wall. Simulations were performed by the fast multipole boundary element method, a highly efficient boundary element method using the fast multipole method. At low frequencies, the extended and local reactions yielded similar reverberation decay curves because of the influence of the room. However, when the random incidence absorption coefficients were small at low frequencies or frequencies were high, the difference was greater than expected from the corresponding Eyring decay lines. We conclude at high frequencies, the locally reacting boundary conditions lead to a longer reverberation time than that expected from the absorption coefficient differences between the extended and local reactions. These differences were similar in sound-pressure-level and sound-intensity-level distributions, and in the oblique incidence absorption coefficient of the absorbing surfaces, but were increased at low frequencies.     

Effect of diffusive and nondiffusive surfaces combinations on sound diffusion

One of room acoustic goals, especially in small to medium rooms, is sound diffusion in low frequencies, which have been the subject of lots of researches. Sound diffusion is a very important consideration in acoustics because it minimizes the coherent reflections that cause problems. It also tends to make an enclosed space sound larger than it is. Diffusion is an excellent alternative or complement to sound absorption in acoustic treatment because it doesn’t really remove much energy, which means it can be used to effectively reduce reflections while still leaving an ambient or live sounding space. Distribution of diffusive and nondiffusive surfaces on room walls affect sound diffusion in room, but the amount, combination, and location of these surfaces are still the matter of question. This paper investigates effects of these issues on room acoustic frequency response in different parts of the room with different source-receiver locations. Room acoustic model based on wave method is used (implemented) which is very accurate and convenient for low frequencies in such rooms. Different distributions of acoustic surfaces on room walls have been introduced to the model and room frequency response results are calculated. For the purpose of comparison, some measurements results are presented. Finally for more smooth frequency response in small and medium rooms, some suggestions are made.     

Low frequency impact sound transmission in dwellings through homogeneous concrete floors and floating floors

An experimentally validated analytical model has been developed in order to investigate the effect on impact sound transmission at low frequencies of location of the impact, type of floor, edge conditions, floor and room dimensions, position of the receiver and room absorption. The model was developed in order to allow rapid repeated calculations necessary for a parametric survey, described in a companion paper. The analytical model uses natural mode analysis to predict the sound field generated in rectangular rooms by point sound sources and the point excitation of homogeneous rectangular plates with different edge conditions. A floor-room model of the sound field generated in a room by a vibrating floor also has been derived. Laboratory and in situ measurements confirm that the models can be used to estimate impact sound transmission at low frequencies. The approach applies to homogeneous simply supported base plates of uniform thickness with homogenous floating floors, which again were experimentally validated in the laboratory and in situ.     

Performance Evaluation and Effectiveness of the Reverberation Room

This research presents a thorough evaluation of the reverberation room at Acoustics Laboratory in National Institute of Standards (NIS) according to the related international standards. The evaluation aims at examining the room performance and exploring its effectiveness in the frequency range from 125 Hz to 10000 Hz according to the international standard requirements. The room, which was designed and built several years ago, is an irregular rectangular shape free from diffusers. Its volume is about 158.84 m³, which meets the requirement of the ISO 354 standard L_max < 1.9V^1/3. Cut-off frequencies of one and one-third octave are 63 Hz and 100 Hz respectively; however Schroder frequency is 400 Hz. Calculations of cut-off frequency and modal density showed adequate modes that give acceptable uniformity starting comfortably from frequency of 125 Hz. The room has a reverberation time that is suitable for its size over the frequency range of interest. The room sound absorption surface area and its sound absorption coefficient satisfy the criteria given in ISO 3741 and ISO 354. There is an accepted diffuse sound field inside the room due to the standard deviation of measured sound level, which is less than 1.5 dB over all the frequency range. The only exception was 125 Hz which may be due to a lack of diffusivity of the sound field at this frequency. The evaluation proves that the NIS reverberation room is in full agreement with the international standards, which in turns qualifies the room to host measurements inside without concerns.     

Measurement of low frequency absorption

Measurements in four rooms with volumes between 106 and 607 m³ give significant differences in the value of the sound absorption coefficient at low frequencies. There is little variation with volume at high frequencies. In two rooms, 204 and 607 m³ in volume, no significant change in absorption coefficient is observed at low frequencies when the amount of diffusing elements in the room is changed. This is in contrast to the well-known variation with number of diffusers that occurs at high frequencies.     

A numerical study of double-leaf microperforated panel absorbers

Microperforated panel (MPP) absorbers are promising as a basis for the next-generation of sound absorbing materials. Typically, they are backed by an air-cavity in front of a rigid wall such as a ceiling or another interior surface of a room. Indeed, to be effective, MPP absorbers require the Helmholtz-type resonance formed with the backing cavity. Towards the creation of an efficient sound-absorbing structure with MPPs alone, the acoustical properties of a structure composed of two parallel MPPs with an air-cavity between them and no rigid backing is studied numerically. In this double-leaf MPP (DLMPP) structure, the rear leaf (i.e., the MPP remote from the incident sound) plays the role of the backing wall in the conventional setting and causes resonance-type absorption. Moreover, since a DLMPP can work efficiently as an absorber for sound incidence from both sides, it can be used efficiently as a space absorber, e.g., as a suspended absorber or as a sound absorbing panel. The sound absorption characteristics of the double-leaf MPP are analysed theoretically for a normally incident plane wave. The effects of various control parameters are discussed through a numerical parametric study. The absorption mechanisms and a possible design principle are discussed also. It is predicted that: (1) that a resonance absorption, similar to that in conventional type MPP absorbers, appears at medium-to-high frequencies and (2) that considerable “additional” absorption can be obtained at low frequencies. This low-frequency absorption is similar to that of a double-leaf permeable membrane and can be an advantage compared with the conventional type of MPP arrangement.     

The effect of construction material, contents and room geometry on the sound field in dwellings at low frequencies

An experimentally validated finite element method is used to model the sound level in rooms at low frequencies. It is demonstrated that the dimensions of rectangular rooms strongly influence the sound pressure level difference. Additional factors were investigated which are not normally considered in the frequency range where diffuse sound field conditions can be assumed. Three effects were investigated: room damping due to wall vibrations, furniture, the effect of small deviations from simple rectangular shapes. It is confirmed by field measurements that the vibrations of masonry walls and floors introduce less damping than surfaces of lightweight construction. Assigning to the FE model a damping equivalent to a surface absorption of 0.02 reproduces the effect of walls of heavyweight construction. Damping equivalent to a surface absorption of 0.15 reproduces the effects of plastered timber-frame walls, floors and ceilings. The work was briefly extended to a room pair built with heavyweight and lightweight material of construction. The modification of the shape of the room frequency response highlights well the effect of material of construction. In-situ and laboratory measurements show that furniture has little effect on steady-state room response below 100 Hz. Modelling a wall recess smaller than 0.5 m improved the agreement between prediction and measurements but the assumption of a simple rectangular room remains appropriate.     

Parameters influencing low frequency impact sound transmission in dwellings

As sound and vibration fields in dwellings exhibit modal behaviour at frequencies below 200 Hz, a systematic investigation of measurement and prediction uncertainty associated with impact sound transmission at low frequencies must include the effects of: location of the impact, type of floor, edge conditions, floor and room dimensions, room absorption and position of the receiver. Experimentally validated analytical models, described in a companion paper, have been used in an extensive investigation of impact sound transmission through rectangular homogeneous concrete floors and floating floors. The models were used to describe the effect of modal coupling and then to perform parametric and statistical studies aimed to identify the main factors affecting low frequency impact sound transmission.     

耦合声阻抗在扩散吸声体设计中的应用研究

为解决小房间的音质设计问题,需要设计不同的扩散吸声体。利用共振吸声的边缘效应,通过不同共振频率的共振器耦合共振时的非线性声阻抗变化组合,形成既能高效吸声,又能均匀散射的声学界面。数值分析及实验结果表明,新型的扩散吸声体内部没有任何传统吸声材料的情况下,单位面积吸声量在中低频段可达1.3 m2,在高频段由于非线性声阻抗与共振器的辐射阻抗不匹配影响,相应吸声量降低到0.7 m2左右。耦合声阻抗的运用使得新型扩散吸声体吸声的效率高,频带宽,免去传统吸声材料的使用,在小房间的声学应用中具有突出的优势。     

Sound decay in a rectangular room with impedance walls

The problem of sound decay in a rectangular room is considered for the case of a room with walls the acoustic properties of which are described by the impedance, which implies a dependence of the absorption coefficient on the angle of incidence of sound waves. The ray approximation is used to determine the sound decay laws for different distributions of wall absorption. It is shown that, in a room with impedance walls, the sound decay is slower than in the conventional reverberation model, in which the wall absorption coefficient is independent of the angle of incidence. The problem is also solved in the wave approximation to determine the decay law for a preset frequency band.     

含玻璃微球的黏弹性复合材料覆盖层的水下吸声性能分析

水下吸声覆盖层对潜艇的隐身具有重要的意义, 因此得到了广泛的关注. 本文对含有玻璃微球的黏弹性复合材料覆盖层的水下吸声性能进行了理论分析. 采用等效参数法计算了玻璃微球的体积含量对复合材料的力学和声学性能的影响. 应用声波在多层介质中传播的一维模型, 计算了不同玻璃微球体积含量的单层复合材料覆盖层的吸声性能.结果表明, 增加玻璃微球的体积含量可以提高覆盖层的低频吸声性能, 但是其高频吸声性能降低.采用遗传算法对玻璃微球在覆盖层厚度方向上的体积含量分布进行优化. 优化的多层结构可以在一定的频带内改善覆盖层的表面与水的声阻抗匹配, 在保证覆盖层的高频吸声系数大于某一限值(0.7)的前提下, 提高其低频吸声性能.另外, 多层优化结构覆盖层不含宏观的空腔结构, 不影响覆盖层的耐压性能.其结构简单, 对制备工艺的要求不高.因此, 本文形成的理论方法适用于水下吸声覆盖层的设计. 关键词： 水下吸声 黏弹性复合材料 玻璃微球 遗传算法     

Enhancing the low frequency sound absorption of a perforated panel by parallel-arranged extended tubes

This paper is concerned with the use of a perforated panel with extended tubes (PPET) to improve the sound absorption confined to low frequencies. In comparison with a micro-perforated panel (MPP), the sound absorption can be significantly improved by using the PPET at the expense of the bandwidth of the sound absorption. A particular configuration combining four parallel-arranged PPETs with different cavities is introduced to achieve a wider bandwidth of the sound absorption at low frequencies. The analysis is extended to the combination of three parallel-arranged PPETs and a MPP to further increase the bandwidth of the sound absorption. A theoretical model is described to predict the sound absorption coefficient and the simulated annealing method is introduced to the proposed absorbers, allowing optimization of the overall performance. The theory with experimental validations demonstrates that the proposed configurations offer a potential improvement of more than one octave in the bandwidth of the sound absorption at low frequencies.     

Messung des absorptionsgrades einer nach dem ‘Perlschnurprinzip’ aufgebauten Wandverkleidung eines reflexionsarmen Raumes

In an anechoic chamber, where the walls are covered with sound-absorbing cubes arranged in pyramids, the distribution of sound pressure around a circle with a non-directional sound source at its centre, was recorded. From these records the variance of the sound pressure distribution was computed and the absorption coefficient determined as a function of frequency. Measurements were made at different points in the room at frequencies ranging from 70 to 4000 Hz.Several possible ways of evaluating the records are presented. The results and applicability of this method are discussed. The results obtained show lower values of absorption coefficient below 200 Hz than coefficients determined with the aid of an interference tube.     

Oblique incidence sound absorption of parallel arrangement of multiple micro-perforated panel absorbers in a periodic pattern

The sound absorption performance of a micro-perforated panel (MPP) absorber array at oblique incidence and in diffuse field is investigated both numerically and experimentally. The basic module of the MPP absorber array consists of four parallel-arranged MPP absorbers with different cavity depths, and the whole MPP absorber array is created by arranging the basic modules in a periodically repeating pattern. Results show that the influence of incidence angle mainly lies in two aspects. First, the parallel absorption mechanism breaks down at lower frequencies at oblique incidence than at normal incidence due to the non-compactness of the resonating MPP absorber, which becomes non-compact if the time delay of incident wave across it is comparable to or larger than π/2. Second, the equivalent acoustic impedance of the MPP varies with respect to incidence angle which in turn changes the sound absorption performance of the MPP absorber array. Influence of the azimuthal angle is insignificant. Because of mutual influence among the member MPP absorbers, the normal incidence sound absorption of the MPP absorber array can be noticeably different from that of the basic module tested in impedance tube. The measured sound absorption coefficients of a prototype specimen in reverberation room compare well with the numerical predictions. The extra sound absorption due to diffraction of sound at the free edges of test specimen is the most efficient around 500 Hz.     

On the formulation of the intensity method for determining sound reduction indices

The standard formulation of the sound intensity method for determining sound reduction indices is revised. In pursuance of the principle of Gaussian integration, the practical implications of the conditions relating to the shape and absorption contents of the measurement surface used in determining the transmitted power are investigated. An extended formula is presented, containing additional terms to account for the size of the measurement surface, boundary interference effects and calibration mismatch. It is shown that, since the intensity method employs both sound pressure and sound intensity measurement systems, it is more prone to calibration error than the classic two-room method involving the subtraction of two pressure levels. If the receiving room is reverberant, sound absorption by the test object will constitute a component of sound power in a direction opposite to that of the transmitted power. The net effect is a reduction in the apparent transmission, resulting in an overestimation of the sound reduction index. The absorption error increases with the flanking ratio and with the fraction of the total receiving room absorption located on the surface of the test object.     

Infrasonic sound pressure in dwellings at the Helmholtz resonance actuated by environmental noise and vibration

The Helmholtz resonator effect of a room with an open window or ventilation duct has been studied theoretically and experimentally. The effect results in a sound pressure buildup at infrasonic frequencies. For comparison, the frequencies of the standing-wave room resonances are above the infrasonic range for residential dwellings. The relations between the sound pressure inside a room and outside (environmental) sound pressure or vibration acceleration have been calculated for the third-octave frequency band incorporating the Helmholtz resonance frequency. The experiment on a small-scale model illustrated the Helmholtz resonator effect caused by environmental vibration.     

声弛豫过程影响下的气体平衡态热容合成方法及其在气体检测中的应用

声扰动形成的分子振动弛豫过程使得气体热容成为依赖于声频率的有效热容,导致随频率变化的声速频散和声弛豫吸收。本文基于单弛豫过程合成算法,提出一种基于两频点声速和声吸收测量值的气体平衡态热容合成方法。该方法两个测量声频点只需在声弛豫吸收显著的频率范围即可分别合成可激发气体分子内外自由度热容,并有效消除声弛豫过程对气体平衡态热容测量结果的影响。对于室温下由CO₂、CH₄、Cl₂、N₂和O₂组成的多种气体,合成的气体热容值与基于Planck-Einstein公式的热力学理论计算结果相符,相比实验数据最大相对误差为3.51%。合成的转动和振动热容还可应用于气体分子几何结构、振动频率大小和混合气体摩尔分数的检测。      

Indirect measurement of acoustic power into a small room at low frequencies

An essential step towards improving sound insulation is a reliable means of quantifying the performance. However, for various reasons sound insulation measurements at low frequencies are associated with relatively high uncertainty and wide variance values. The objective of this research is to develop a method of sound insulation measurement which complements the standard ISO 140 measurement methods by providing improved accuracy at low frequencies. In this paper part of the problem is considered, namely the measurement of power radiated into the receiver room. The ‘peak envelope method’ is based on mode theory and the measurement employs a pair of microphones in the receiver room and a calibrated volume velocity source. No reverberation time measurements are required. The theory is outlined and computer simulations and trial measurements are carried out in order to validate the theory. Good agreement in numerical and experimental validation is demonstrated. We conclude that the peak envelope method is suitable for the measurement of radiated sound power at modal frequencies where ISO 140 methods are poorly adapted. In order to obtain transmission loss, a measure of incident power in the source room will also be required, which will be the subject of future works.     

一种现场测量材料吸声特性的新方法

现有的材料吸声系数测量方法主要有混响室法和驻波管法,都属于实验室测量方法,不适合现场测量。使用普通扬声器的反射法可以对材料的吸声特性进行现场测量,但是对材料尺寸和测试环境有较高的要求。本文利用参量阵非线性自解调可听声的高指向性和在阵长距离内的平面波特性,结合传递函数法,测量材料的吸声系数,并与传统驻波管测量结果进行了对比。结果表明在普通房间条件下,不需要驻波管,混响室等实验环境,即可对小尺寸的材料进行吸声系数的现场快速测量,具有较大的实用性。