ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS OF AUDITORIUM SHAPES

NIRAJ KUMAR TUDU

BARCH/10018/2015

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED AS A PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE,
BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,
MESRA, RANCHI

8TH SEMESTER
YEAR 2019
 ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS OF AUDITORIUM SHAPES

NIRAJ KUMAR TUDU

BARCH/10018/2015

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED AS A PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE,
BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,
MESRA, RANCHI

………………………………
Dr. D.J. Biswas
Head of the Department
Department of Architecture,
Birla Institute of Technology,
Mesra, Ranchi.

……………………… ……………………… ……………………

Prof. Apurv Ashish
Dissertation Guide
Department of Architecture,
Birla Institute of Technology,
Mesra, Ranchi.
Prof. Smiriti Mishra
Professor Incharge
Department of Architecture,
Birla Institute of Technology,
Mesra, Ranchi.
Prof. B.C.Roy
Professor Incharge
Department of Architecture
Birla Institute of Technology,
Mesra, Ranchi.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I deemed it my privilege to extend my profound gratitude and appreciation to all those who
have directly or indirectly involved themselves in helping me to proceed with the Dissertation
work.

My sincere appreciation and thanks to Supervisor/guide Prof. Apurv Ashish for their diligent
attention towards the dissertation throughout all stages of work. Their comments and
criticism have been invaluable.

Also, a special note of gratitude to Prof. Smiriti Mishra and Prof. B.C. Roy, who not only
helped me conceptualise my thesis topic, but also helped me refine and structure this
dissertation since the initial stage. I wish to thank them for their encouragement and support.

The writing of this dissertation has been one of the most significant academic challenges I
have ever taken. Though the following dissertation is an individual work, I could never have
reached the heights or explored the depths without the help of books published by various
authors, the e-books available on the internet and websites providing information related to
my dissertation topic.

NIRAJ KUMAR TUDU

BARCH/10018/2015
 LIST OF CONTENTS

Chapter Title Page

Acknowledgements
List of Contents
List of Figures

1 Introduction
1.1 Research Questions
1.2 Objectives of the research
1.3 Scope of the research
1.4 Parameters of the research

2 Methodology
2.1 Methodology overview
2.2 Details

3 Literature Review

4 Research Design
4.1 Literature based case study

5 Conclusion

6 References

7 Bibliography
 LIST OF FIGURES

Chapter Title Page

3
 Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

The design of room shape is usually the starting point of auditorium design. It not only
largely determines the special effect and aesthetic value of auditoriums, but also plays an
important role in room acoustic performance.

Since the acoustic performance of auditoriums can also be adjusted by materials with
acoustic functionalities in the late design stage, shape designs in the early design stage can
have a certain degree of freedom so that architects can pursue the special effect and aesthetic
value they desire. However, it has to be ensured that the shapes can have satisfactory acoustic
performance when appropriate compositions of materials are assigned, because the
adjustments that materials can offer are not unlimited. Some improper shapes could fail to
meet acoustical requirements no matter what materials are assigned. In other words, the
shapes should at least have the “potential” to be acoustically “remedied” by materials.

Therefore, in order to achieve desirable acoustic performance of auditoriums, it is necessary

for architects and acousticians to involve acoustic issues in the early design stage, when only
the ideas of shapes are developed while material properties have not been deeply considered
yet.

However, the acoustic “potential” of shapes is difficult to evaluate. The existing acoustic
evaluation methods (scaled model test, acoustic simulation, etc.) can only estimate the
acoustic performance of a shape with one given composition of materials. They cannot judge
whether the shape has the potential to meet the acoustic requirements when appropriate
materials are assigned in detailed acoustic design stage. This could cause conflicts between
architects and acousticians, who should work together to design auditorium shapes but think
and judge differently.

Architects always want their auditoriums to be unique and inspiring, therefore, they might
insist on the shape they proposed and argue that the current acoustic problems can be fixed by
acousticians in the late design stage. This could lead to the risk that designs with acoustic
fatal defects are accepted. Acousticians, on the other hand, tend to learn from the shapes of
highly successful halls and regard the acoustic performance as the most important issue, then
the novel and acoustically promising shapes proposed by architects could be abandoned
regrettably. Therefore, in order to help architects and acousticians find the desirable shape at
the balancing point of aesthetic value and acoustic performance in the early design stage, it is
important to investigate the influence of shape designs on acoustics performance form the
viewpoint of acoustic potential of shapes.

©
 1.1 Research Questions

• How auditorium acoustics depend upon auditorium shapes?

• How can auditorium shapes evaluate in early design stage?
• Which auditorium shapes have better acoustics?

1.2 Objectives of the research

• To examine the auditorium shapes to see the provision for good acoustics.
• To provide the method of evaluating the acoustic shape in early design stage.
• Recommendation of better auditorium shape.

1.3 Scope of the research

• Studying the shapes considerations needed for acoustical performance.
• Utilizing the properties of various shapes according to their functionality in the design

1.4 Parameters of the research

There are several acoustic parameters that can reflect different aspects of the acoustic
performance of auditoriums.
In this research the parameters are chosen based on the research of Beranek [5, pp.503-
552], which summarized important parameters for concert halls including:
• Reverberation time (RT)
• Early Decay Time (EDT)
• Lateral Fraction (LF)
• Clarity (C80).

ACOUSTIC PARAMETER FREQUENCY RANGE

REVERBERATION TIME/RT (s) 500 – 1000 Hz 1.8s – 2.1S

EARLY DECAY TIME/ EDT (db) 500 - 1000Hz -2db to +10db

LATERAL FRACTION/ LF 500 - 1000Hz 0.05 to 0.35

CLARITY/C80 (db) 500 - 1000Hz 0.05 to 0.35

(REF: 3382- 1:2009)

 CHAPTER2

METHODOLOGY

2.1 Methodology overview

Introduction of the research

Identifying Research Questions

Identifying Objectives

Identifying Scope and Parameters

Literature Review
(Review of the existing researches)

Literature Based Case Study Of Fan Shape

And Shoe Box Shape

Data Collection of Acoustic Parameter of Fan Shape

And Shoe Box Shape by Acoustic Simulation

Comparative Analysis of Shape Acoustic parameter

Conclusion
 CHAPTER 3

LITERATURE REVIEW

3.1 The Influence of Shape Design on the Acoustic Performance of Concert Halls from
the Viewpoint of Acoustic Potential of Shapes
AUTHOR: SHAUL LU
PUBLISHER: Acta Acustica united with Acustica
YEAR OF PUBLICATION: November 2016
This paper provides Shape design is critical to the acoustic performance of concert halls,
and room shapes obtained in the shape design stage should have the potential to be
acoustically desirable when appropriate materials are assigned in the late design stage.
However, the importance of shape design to acoustics, as well as the relationships
between shape designs and acoustic performance, has not been thoroughly explored to
meet the requirements of design practice. This research employs a method combining
acoustic simulation, Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines and Monte Carlo
Simulation, to investigate the influence of shape design on the acoustic performance of
shoe-box and fan-shaped concert halls from the viewpoint of acoustic potential of shapes.
The acoustic functionalities of materials and the multiplicity of acoustic parameters are
taken into account in order to meet the real situations of shape design. The results first
quantify and prove the importance of shape designs in achieving desirable acoustic
performance for shoe-box and fan-shaped concert halls, and then reveal the relationships
between the probability of acoustically desirable shapes and shape parameters, which
could help architects stay in an appropriate design direction for acoustics. Finally, a
method to evaluate the acoustic potential of shapes in real-time is provided, which can
help architects make decisions in shape designs.

Table 1. Acoustic parameters and their desirable ranges used in this research of Beranek
[5, pp.536].
3.1.1 Acoustic simulation:
A parametric model that can automatically generate concert hall designs within the boundary
conditions defined in Section 2.1 is developed in Rhinoceros (a 3-D modelling software,
V.5SR11). Additionally, an interface bridging Rhinoceros and CATT (An acoustic simulation
software, V9.0b) is developed, which can call CATT to run acoustic simulation using the
designs generated by Rhinoceros.
Based on the parametric model and the interface, one group of shoe-box concert halls and
another group of fan-shaped halls are generated and simulated. Each group contains 1000
random designs with shape and material information.
For more reliable results, three simulations are conducted for one design with different
sources: one is in the center front of the stage representing the soloist or the first violin,
another one is in the center rear, and the last one is in the frontal side. The sources are located
1.2 meters above the stage and are omni-directional.
Due to the symmetry ,all receivers are distributed in one half of the auditorium, and are also
1.2 meters above the floor (Figure 1).
For all simulations, the setting of 100000 rays and 2000ms echo gram is used. Temperature is
set to be20◦C, while relative humidity is 50%. To simplify the simulation results, only the
average value of all receives in three simulations is recorded. Although not perfectly precise,
average values have been proven to be effective to reflect the overall acoustic features of an
auditorium.

FIGURE 1 : Distribution of the sources (green colour online)and receivers (red colour
online).
3.1.2 STATISTICS MODEL:
Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS)is a method of flexible nonparametric
regression modelling and is capable to model complex, nonlinear relationships between
response and explanatory variables.
The range of each explanatory variable is first broken into subsets using “knot”. Then the data
of each subset is fitted using a basis function (piecewise linear basis functions), which
contains several splits and ensures the continuity of the overall fitted function.
Additions and deletions of knots and splits are evaluated in terms of changes in residual
squared errors. MARS is employed here to deal with the simulation data acquired in Section
3.1.1
Two 3D-plots of the statistical models are shown in Figure 2, which respectively show the
fitting surfaces of the regressions of RT (Figure 2 top)and BQI (Figure 2 bottom) on Room
Width and Room Height for shoe-box shapes (under the condition that Room Length is
40mand Total Area of Balcony is 200m2). Table 2 shows statistical indices of the statistical
models. All the statistical models have correlation coefficients (R2) larger than 0.85, and their
residual standard deviations (SD) are much smaller than JND (Just-Noticeable Difference, or
Subjective Limen). Furthermore, they are better than existing statistical models derived from
linear regression method.
Therefore, these statistical models acquired here can be used to provide reliable predictions of
the acoustic parameters of designs.

Table 2: The statistical indices of the statistical models. Compare with JND: Compare with
JND(Subjective Limen)Compare with LR: Compare with Linear Regression.
 3.2 Considering concert acoustics and
the shape of rooms
AUTHOR: Nicholas Edwards

PUBLISHER: Acta Acustica united

with Acustica
YEAR OF PUBLICATION:1984
This paper provides In order to study the
relationship between room shape and
sound field lateralization, They have
developed a computer program, called
IMAGES, that traces the paths traveled by
sound "rays" emanating from a source on
the stage, reflected from the boundary
surfaces of the room, and arriving finally
at a particular listener position (Figures 8
and 4). In the same way as the position of
the image resulting from light reflected by
a mirror can be found, the computer program we have developed finds the locations of
"virtual sources" or "images" of the sound source (Figures 1 and 2). From these image
locations, they can trace the paths of the sound rays within the room. This computer model
has most validity at higher frequencies and with larger room panel surfaces; diffraction,
though it can be important in a real room, is not included in the simulation. A particularly
useful analytical tool for studying directional information gained from the computer model is
the "soundrose" (Figure 5). The soundrose shows the impulse response of an auditorium in
terms of direction and intensity of reflected sound energy. The orientation of the radial lines
on the soundrose indicates the direction from which reflected sound waves arrive. The length
of a radial line indicates the magnitude of the sound intensity-more precisely, proportional to
the component of the logarithm of intensity magnitude in the plane passing through the lateral
axis and the listener's line of sight to the source.
 CHAPTER 4

RESEARCH DESIGN

4.1 Literature based case study

4.1.1 TAPOVAN HALL, CHENNAI:

The auditorium is fan shaped, the main hall is 533 sq.m and the stage is
267sq.m

ACOUSTIC SIMULATION BY ODEON SOFWARE:

Figure 1: Graph showing RT values. Figure 2: Calculated EDT Mapping

Figure 3: Calculated Clarity Mapping Figure 4: Calculated STI Mapping

Figure 5: Calculated AI Mapping Figure 6: Graph showing LF
values

PARAMETER RESULT

Reverberation time (RT) 1.6 sec

Clarity (C80) -2db

Lateral Energy Fraction (Lf) 0.3

Articulation Index (AI) 1

D_50 0.7

Room Acoustic STI 0.5

4.1.2 NORTHERN CYPRUS CAMPUS AUDITORIUM, METU

The auditorium is fan shaped, the main hall is 445 sq.m

PLAN

ACOUSTIC SIMULATION BY ODEON SOFTWARE:

Fig1: Early decay time

500Hz
Fig 2: Early decay
time 1000Hz

Fig 3:Lateral Fraction

500Hz
Fig 5:Lateral fraction
1000Hz

Fig 6:Clarity 500Hz

Fig:7Clarity
1000HZ

Fig 8:RASTI
PARAMETER RESULT

Reverberation Time (RT) 1.16 sec

Clarity (C80) 5.6 to 5.9db

Lateral Energy fraction (Lf80) 0.07 to 0.2

Room Acoustic STI (RASTI) 0.66

Early Decay Time (EDT) 1.1 m sec

4.1.3 DETMOLD CONCERT HALL AUDITORIUM, GERMANY

The auditorium is shoebox shape , the main hall is 437 sq.m

PLAN
ACOUSTIC SIMULATION BY MATLAB SOFTWARE:

PARAMETER RESULT

Reverberation Time (RT) 1.6 sec

Clarity (C80) 3.02db

Early Decay Time (EDT) 1.39 sec - 1.64 sec

Lateral Energy Fraction (LF) 0.05 - 0.35

4.1.4 K ART HALL, SOUTH KOREA

The auditorium is shoebox shape , the main hall is 437 sq.m

ACOUSTIC SIMULATION BY CATT V8.0 PROGRAM:

FIG 1:Reverberation time 500Hz FIG 2: Reverberation time 1000Hz

Fig 3:Lateral fraction 500Hz Fig 4:Lateral fraction 1000Hz

Fig 5: Clarity 500Hz Fig 6: Clarity 1000Hz

PARAMETER RESULT

Reverberation Time 1.45

Clarity (C80) 1.6db – 1.2db

Lateral Energy Fraction (LF) 0.29

 CHAPTER 5

5.1 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS (FREQUENCY 500-1000Hz)

PARAMETER TAPOVAN CYPRUS K ART DETMO

HALL, CAMPUS HALL LD
CHENNAI AUDITORIU (SHOE CONCE
( FAN SHAPE) M BOX RT
( FAN SHAPE ) HALL
SHAPE ) ( SHOE
BOX )

REVERBERATI 1.6 1.16 1.45 1.6

ON TIME
1.8s – 2.1

CLARITY C80 2 5.6 – 5.95 1.6 – 1.2 3.02

- 5 to +5db

LATERAL 0.3 0.07 – 0.2 0.29 1.39 –

ENERGY 1.64
FRACTION (LF)
0.05 to 0.35

EARLY DECAY 1.1 0.05 –

TIME 0.35
-2db to +10db
 CHAPTER 6

6.1 CONCLUSION:

• Shape designs are proven to have great importance in achieving desirable

acoustic performance for shoe-box and fan-shaped concert halls.

• Shoebox has better acoustic performance as lateral energy fraction more

than the fan shape.

• As in fan shape less side wall refraction occur due which listener
perspective reduce.
REFERENCE:

• Acta Acustica united with Acustica November 2016 .

• Architectural record · January 1984.

• Acoustics Australia / Australian Acoustical Society · April 2015.

• ISO 3382 - 1: 2009

• Volume 8, Issue 8, August 2017, pp. 1159–1164, Article ID:

IJCIET_08_08_124

• Acoustic Design of a Classical Concert Hall and Evaluation of its

Acoustic Performance – A Case Study
(doi:10.20944/preprints201805.0309.v1)

• METU Northern Cyprus Campus Auditorium (NCCA) As a Case

Study