Acoustics of Buildings (Notes)

Introduction
We will first look at essential concepts when it comes to understanding sound and acoustics. We have
looked at waves and how they interfere for transverse waves. Similar behavior is seen for longitudinal
waves but the standing wave patterns tend to be different. We will not be looking at that behavior now.
Intensity
Definition: The intensity of sound is defined as the average rate of transfer of energy per unit area, the
𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑡
area being perpendicular to the direction of propagation of sound. The unit of Intensity is 𝑚2

Derivation of Formula:
𝑥
The equation of a harmonic wave is given by 𝑦 = a sin (𝜔 (𝑡 − 𝑣 )).

𝑥
The particle velocity at any instant is given by 𝑣 = a ω cos (𝜔 (𝑡 − ))
𝑣

Now consider a cylindrical column of the medium with unit area cross section. So mass of a slice of
thickness 𝑑𝑥 = 𝜌 𝑑𝑥, where 𝜌 is the density of the medium. So kinetic energy of this slice is given by
1
𝐾𝐸 = (𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠)(𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦)2
2
1 𝑥
= 𝜌 𝑑𝑥 𝑎2 𝜔2 cos2 (𝜔 (𝑡 − ))
2 𝑣

For an SHM of the type described above, the total energy is equal to the maximum value of the KE or PE.
So the total energy is given by
1
Total Energy of the slice = 𝜌 𝑑𝑥 𝑎2 𝜔2
2
The volume of the slice with unit cross section is 𝑑𝑥.So the Total energy per unit volume is given by
1 1
𝐸 = 𝜌 𝑎2 𝜔2 = 𝜌 𝑎2 (4𝜋 2 𝑛2 ) = 2 𝜋 2 𝜌 𝑎2 𝑛2
2 2
The quantity of energy that flows per unit area per unit time through the wavefront is called the intensity
of the wave. It is given by 𝐼 = 𝐸 × 𝑣. Thus intensity is given by

𝐼 = 2 𝜋 2 𝜌 𝑎2 𝑛2 𝑣
Expression in terms of Pressure Amplitude.
2𝜋
A Simple harmonic wave is given by 𝑦 = 𝑎 sin ( 𝜆 (𝑣𝑡 − 𝑥)). So taking derivative w.r.t x we have

𝑑𝑦 2𝜋𝑎 2𝜋
= −( ) cos ( (𝑣𝑡 − 𝑥))
𝑑𝑥 𝜆 𝜆
 𝑑𝑦
The pressure amplitude is 𝑝 = −𝐾 (𝑑𝑥 ), where 𝐾 = 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑣 2 𝜌. So we have

𝑑𝑦 2𝜋𝑎𝑣 2 𝜌 2𝜋
𝑝 = −𝑣 2 𝜌 =( ) cos ( (𝑣𝑡 − 𝑥))
𝑑𝑥 𝜆 𝜆
2𝜋𝑎𝑣 2 𝜌
So the maximum excess of pressure is given by 𝑝𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 = ( 𝜆
) and so we have

2𝜋
𝑝 = 𝑝𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 cos ( (𝑣𝑡 − 𝑥))
𝜆

We can rewrite 𝑝𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 as follows

𝑣
𝑝𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 = 2𝜋𝑎𝑣𝜌 ( ) = 2𝜋𝑎𝑣𝜌𝑛
𝜆
Now
2
(2𝜋𝑎𝑣𝜌𝑛)2 𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚
𝐼 = 2 𝜋 2 𝜌 𝑎2 𝑛2 𝑣 = =
2𝜌𝑣 2𝜌𝑣
Relative Intensity:
The absolute intensity of a sound wave is measured in 𝑊𝑚−1. The lowest intensity of sound
(𝑎𝑡 1000 𝐻𝑧) to which a normal human ear can respond to is 10−12 𝑊𝑚−1 . This standard intensity is
called threshold of intensity.
The ratio of intensity of sound to the standard intensity is called relative intensity of sound or intensity
level. It is defined mathematically as
𝐼
𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 = log10 [ ]
𝐼0
The unit for intensity level is called Bel. We define 1 Bel as the intensity level of a sound whose intensity
is 10 times that of the standard intensity. In practice, Bel is a large unit. Hence we choose to use another
unit called decibel (dB). When the intensity increases by a factor of 100.1, the increase in relative
intensity is 0.1 Bel or 1 dB. So we have 1 𝐵𝑒𝑙 = 10 𝑑𝐵. So we can write
𝐼 𝐼
𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 = log10 [ ] 𝐵𝑒𝑙 = 10 log10 [ ] 𝑑𝐵
𝐼0 𝐼0
Loudness of Sound
The loudness of sound judged by the ear is proportional to the logarithm of intensity. i.e. 𝑆 ∝ log10 𝐼 ⇒
𝑆 = 𝐾 log10 𝐼. Here K is a constant depending on the sensitivity of the ear, quality of the sound and other
𝑑𝑠 𝑘
factors. This law doesn’t hold good near the lower and upper limits of audibility. The quantity 𝑑𝐼
= 𝐼
is
called the sensitiveness of the ear. It decreases with the increase in intensity of sound.
Loudness is the physiological counterpart to acoustical intensity. It is a function of intensity but also
varies with frequency and composition of the note being heard.
The loudness of sound is just an aural sensation and it a physiological phenomenon rather than a physical
phenomenon. The intensity of sound refers to the external or the objective measurement and the loudness
refers to the internal of subjective measurement. Thus we say that intensity of sound is a physical
phenomenon and loudness is merely a degree of sensation.
The unit of loudness is sone. One sone is defined as the loudness of a 1kHz tone of 40 dB intensity level.
Reverberation
It is the persistence of sound in an enclosure due to multiple reflections of sounds at the walls after the
source has ceased to emit a sound.
Reverberation time is the interval of time taken by sustained or continuous sound to fall to one millionth
of its original value. It is also said to be time taken for sound to fall below the minimum audibility after
the source stopped sounding. It depends on the size of the room or auditorium, nature of reflecting
material on the wall and the ceiling and the area of the reflecting surfaces.
Sabine’s method for determining reverberation time: An organ pipe of frequency 512 Hz is sounded. At
the same time, a stop watch is started. The time taken for the sound to become inaudible is measured. This
gives reverberation time.
Derivation of Sabine’s formula for reverberation time
The main assumptions while deriving the formula are
1. The average energy per unit volume is uniform. It is represented as 𝜎
2. The energy is not lost in the auditorium. The energy lost is only due to the absorption of the
material of the walls and ceiling and also due to the escape through the windows and ventilators.
Both these factors are included in the term “absorption” of energy.
Suppose a source is producing sound continuously. This sound energy is propagated in all directions. Let
𝜎 be the energy contained a unit volume. i.e. energy density.
𝜎𝑑𝜙
Energy contained in a solid angle 𝑑Ω = 4𝜋
. Let this energy be incident on a unit surface area of a wall at
an angle 𝜃.

C A

𝜃
E
𝑑Ω 𝜃
B 𝐸 cos 𝜃
Let 𝑣 be the velocity of sound. So total energy falling per second on a unit surface area of the wall
𝜎𝑑Ω
= cos(𝜃) 𝑣
4𝜋
Now the relationship between the solid angle subtended by a cone who half angle is 𝜃 is obtained as
2𝜋 𝜃
follows. Ω = ∫0 𝑑𝜙 ∫0 cos 𝜃′ 𝑑𝜃′ = 2𝜋(1 − cos 𝜃). So we have 𝑑Ω = 2𝜋 sin 𝜃 𝑑𝜃. So we have total
energy falling per second on a unit surface area of the wall
𝜎𝑣 𝜎𝑣
= 2𝜋 cos 𝜃 sin 𝜃 𝑑𝜃 = cos 𝜃 sin 𝜃 𝑑𝜃
4𝜋 2
Now if the cone were a finite volume we would integrate the above expression to a finite 𝜃 value. Taking
the volume to be a hemisphere, the total energy falling per second within a hemisphere would be
𝜋
2 𝜋/2
𝜎𝑣 𝜎𝑣 − cos2 𝜃 𝜎𝑣
=∫ cos 𝜃 sin 𝜃 𝑑𝜃 = [ ] =
2 2 2 0
4
0

Let 𝛼 be the absorption coefficient of the walls. So the amount of energy absorbed per second per unit
area by the walls
𝛼𝜎𝑣
=
4
If A be the area of the walls and other absorbing materials including ceilings, windows and ventilators
then the total energy absorbed per second
𝛼𝜎𝑣
=𝐴
4
Let V be the volume of the auditorium. So total sound energy present in the auditorium
= 𝑉𝜎
So rate of increase of energy in the auditorium is
𝑑(𝑉𝜎) 𝑉𝑑𝜎
= =
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
Now suppose that the source provides energy at the rate of Q units per second. So rate of increase of
energy
𝛼𝜎𝑣 𝑉𝑑𝜎
𝑄− =
4 𝑑𝑡
𝛼𝜎𝑣 𝐾 𝑄
Making the following substitutions 4
= 𝐾, 𝑉 = 𝛽 and 𝐵 = 𝐾 we have

𝑑𝑄 𝑑𝑄 𝑄 𝐾
𝑉 = 𝑄 − 𝐾𝜎 ⇒ = + 𝜎
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑉 𝑉
This is a differential equation whose general solution is given by

𝜎 = 𝐵 + 𝑏 𝑒 −𝛽𝑡
At 𝑡 = 0 we have 𝜎 = 0. So we have

0 = 𝐵 + 𝑏 ⇒ 𝑏 = −𝐵
So we have
 𝜎 = 𝐵(1 − 𝑒 −𝛽𝑡 )
Substituting the values of B and 𝛽 we have
4𝑄 −(
𝛼𝐴𝑣
)𝑡
𝜎= [1 − 𝑒 4𝑉 ]
𝐴𝛼𝑣
The above expression represents the rise of average sound energy per unit time from the instant the source
commences to produce sound. The maximum value of the average energy per unit volume is
4𝑄
𝜎=
𝐴𝛼𝑣
So we can write the general equation for 𝜎 as
𝛼𝐴𝑣
−( )𝑡
𝜎 = 𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 (1 − 𝑒 4𝑉 )

Now reverberation time is defined as the time taken for the energy density to fall to 10−6 × 𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 .
So putting that in the above formula and putting 𝑡 = 𝑇𝑟 we have
𝛼𝐴𝑣
−( )𝑇
10−6 𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 = 𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 (1 − 𝑒 4𝑉 𝑟 )

Cancelling common terms and taking 𝑙𝑛 we have

𝛼𝐴𝑣
−6 × ln(10) = − ( )𝑇
4𝑉 𝑟
Taking speed of sound to be 𝑣 = 350 𝑚𝑠 −1 and rearranging we have
24 × 2.303 × 4 𝑉
𝑇𝑟 = ( )
350 𝐴𝛼
In general
0.158𝑉 0.158𝑉
𝑇= =
𝐴𝛼 ∑𝐴𝛼
From the above formula we see that reverberation time is
1. Directly proportional to the volume of the auditorium
2. Inversely proportional to the area of the ceilings, walls etc
3. Inversely proportional to the total absorption plus transmission through open surfaces.
Absorption Coefficient
First definition: The sound absorption coefficient 𝛼 of a material is defined as the ratio of sound energy
absorbed by it to the ratio of sound energy incident on it.
𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒
𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝛼 =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒
Second Definition: The absorption coefficient of a material is defined as the ratio of sound energy
absorbed by it to that absorbed by an equal area of an open window
The unit of absorption coefficient is called Sabine. It is also called open window unit (O.W.U.)
Determination of Absorption Coefficient
An audio frequency source of 512 Hz is taken. The reverberation time 𝑇1 in a hall is determined using a
chronograph, without the absorbing material in the hall. So we have
0.158𝑉
𝑇1 =
∑𝐴𝛼
Here ∑𝛼𝐴 is the total absorption without the absorbing material and V is the volume of the hall.
We now put the absorbing material in the hall and again determine the new reverberation time 𝑇2 . From
Sabine’s formula we have
0.158𝑉
𝑇2 =
∑𝐴𝛼 + 𝛼1 𝑠
Here 𝛼1 is the absorption coefficient of the absorbing material and s is the surface area. Combining the
above two equations we have
1 1 𝛼1 𝑠
− =
𝑇2 𝑇1 0.158 𝑉
Or
𝑉 1 1
𝛼1 = 0.158 ( − )
𝑠 𝑇2 𝑇1
The above formula gives us the absorbing coefficient of the new material.
Acoustics of Buildings
The following are the requirements of a good auditorium
1. The sound should be sufficiently loud and intelligible in every part of the hall.
2. Sound of each syllable should soon decay so that the succeeding syllable may be heard distinctly.
There must be no confusion due to overlapping of syllables. This means that the auditorium must
be free from excessive reverberation.
3. No echoes must be present
4. There should be undesirable focusing of sound in any part of the hall. There should not be any
zones of silence or regions of poor audibility anywhere in the hall.
5. Interference, reflection and resonance effects should be avoided.
6. All extraneous noises must be shut out as far as possible. The boundaries should be sufficiently
sound proof to exclude extraneous noise.
7. There should be no Echelon effect.
 8. The quality of sound must be unaltered i.e., the relative intensity of the components of the
complex sound must be preserved.
Factors Affecting Acoustics of Buildings
1. Reverberation: This is one of the most important single factors that affect the acoustics of an
auditorium. This is mainly due to the multiple reflections taking place at various surfaces present
within the auditorium
If reverberation time is too small, the sound dies away almost instantaneously and gives the
auditorium a dead effect. If the reverberation time is too long, each syllable continues to be heard
even after the next syllable has been uttered. This makes the sound unintelligible. So the
reverberation time has to be maintained at an optimum value.
For speech the reverberation time about 1-2 seconds. For music the reverberation time is above 2-
2.5 seconds.
To adjust the reverberation time to be as optimum as possible, the absorption of sound in the
auditorium can be increased in the following ways
a. Providing windows and openings.
b. Covering ceiling and walls with sound absorbing materials.
c. Using heavy curtains with folds.
d. Covering the floor with carpets.
e. Upholstering the seats so that the absorption is approximately the same with or without the
audience.

f. By having a good audience because one listener is equivalent to 0.5 𝑚2 area of an open
window.
2. Echoes: Echoes can be avoided by covering the long distance walls and high ceiling with
absorbent materials. This prevents reflection of sound.
3. Adequate Loudness: Sufficient loudness in every portion of the hall is an important factor for
satisfactory hearing. If loudness of sound is inadequate, the loudness can be increased
a. Using large sounding boards behind the speaker and facing the audience.
b. Providing low ceilings for the reflection of sound towards the audience.
c. By providing additional energy with the help of equipment like loudspeakers.
4. Focussing and Interference Effects: If there is any concave surface in the hall, sound will get
concentrated at its focus region. There may be dead space at some other regions. Hence such
surfaces should be avoided if possible. Else they can be covered with absorbent materials.
There should be no interference occurring in the hall. Place where destructive interference occurs
would become regions of minimum intensity. Formation of stationary wave patterns due direct
and reflected waves would cause uneven distribution of sound intensity.
5. Resonance Effects: Window panels, sections of wooden portions which are loosely fitted start
vibrating, creating extra sounds. If there is resonance for any audio frequency note, the intensity
of that note will be entirely different from the intensity desired. Such resonant vibrations must be
damped.
6. Echelon effect: Suppose there is a regular structure similar to a flight of stairs in the hall. The
sound produced in front of such a structure may produce a musical note due to regular successive
echoes of sound reaching the observer. Such an effect is called an echelon effect. If the frequency
of this note is in within the audible range, the listener will hear only this note prominently. The
remedy is cover such surfaces with absorbing materials like carpets.
7. Extraneous noise: This category is split into two: Airborne noise and Structural noise.
a. Airborne noise: The noise which reaches the hall from the outside through open windows,
doors and ventilators is called airborne noise. It is reduced by the following methods
i. Using double doors and windows with separate frames and having insulating
materials between them.
ii. Making the hall as an air-conditioned hall where the hall is completely closed.
b. Structure borne noise: The noise which is conveyed through the structure of the building is
called structure borne noise. This noise can be minimized by using double walls with air
space between them.
8. Inside noise: The noise which is produced inside the hall is called inside noise. It is produced by
machinery like air-conditioners etc in the hall. This noise is minimized by the following methods.
a. Covering the floor with carpet.
b. Walls, floor and ceilings covered with sound absorbing materials.
c. Placing the working machinery on sound absorbent pads.
d. The rotating or impacting machines must be fixed using a fixed bed.