Saint Louis College

City of San Fernando La Union

College of Engineering and Architecture
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
2nd Semester School Year 2020-2021

AR A328

BUILDING
UTILITIES O3
SCHEDULE: 1:30 – 4:00 TTH G-SUITE /322

RESEARCH TOPIC:
 Acoustical materials, properties, and application.
 Data on Optimum Reverberation, its coefficient value of general
building materials and furnishing

STUDENT:
COLLADO, SOPHIA THERESA C.
BS ARCHITECTURE 3A

PROFESSOR
ARCH. VIC A. QUIJANO
Architect, UAP
Soundproofing vs Sound-Absorbing
When it comes to acoustics, there are two different options:
1. You can absorb the reverberant energy that sound creates within a space.
2. You can prevent the transmission of sound energy.
Materials that are specifically noted as sound-absorbing will absorb most of
the sound energy that collides with them. These specialized materials are usually
referred to as "acoustical materials" and they are designed to have high
absorption qualities. The major use of these materials is to reduce reverberant
sound pressure levels. This leads to a reduction of overall reverberation in a
space.
Sound and noise are managed by four methods:
 Blocking relates to the use of soundproofing.
 Absorption works by converting sound energy into heat.
 Diffusion seeks to scatter sound without deadening a room.
 Isolating is done at the source of the noise itself, by placing a compressor
on isolation mounts, for instance.

ACOUSTICAL MATERIALS
A. SOUND ABSORBERS - will absorb most of the sound energy that collides
with them and will reflect very little. These qualities make them useful in
the control of noise within a space or enclosure. They are used in a variety
of locations: close to the source of the noise, paths, or close to receivers.
 Types of Sound Absorbers:
1. POROUS ABSORBERS - will convert incident sound energy into heat
energy through frictional and viscous resistance in the fribrous or
cellular structure of the material. Typical materials are open cell
polyurethane foam, cellular melamine, fiber glass, fluffy fabrics and
other porous materials.
 Types:
a) Acoustical Foam Panels -
are used in a wide variety of
applications ranging from
Recording and Broadcast
Studios to Commercial and
Industrial Facilities. Available
in Polyurethane or in a Class
1 Fire Rated foam. These
products can be applied
directly to walls, hung as
baffles or used as
freestanding absorbers.
b) White paintable acoustical wall
panels - is a white acoustical wall
panel with a soft textured appearance.
The two foot by one-foot dimension
provides installers flexibility to mount
acoustical panels around existing
objects. In addition to reducing echo
and reverberation, these acoustical
panels are used to create unique
designs and patterns. The glass fiber
core is faced with a paintable covering.

c) Fabric wrapped panels -

Acoustical sound panels utilize 6-
7 PCF glass fiber material for
maximum absorption. Available as
wall panels, ceiling tiles, hanging
baffles, acoustical clouds and bass
traps used to reduce echo and
reverberation in applications,
small and large. These panels are
manufactured from a rigid high
density (6-7 PCF) glass fiber
acoustical board and covered with
an acoustically transparent fabric.

d) Acoustical wall coverings - is a

dimensional fabric that offers excellent
acoustical properties, unmatched fade
resistance, and a fire/smoke retardant
class A rating. Sound channels is
resistant to moisture, mildew, rot,
bacteria, and is non-allergenic.
Produced with no voc’s (volatile organic
compounds), ods’s (ozone depleting
substances), heavy metals or
formaldehyde, it's the perfect acoustic
fabric for offices, classrooms,
conference centers or any area where
speech intelligibility is a critical factor.

Features:
•Lightweight Acoustic Fabric •Easy
to install •Class A
•Passes Corner Burn Test •Available in Many Colors
•Durable / Abuse Resistant •Improves Speech Intelligibility
Applications:
•Conference Rooms •Theaters •Hospitals •Municipal
•Office Partitions •Schools •Hallways •and more.
 e) Ceiling tiles - Ceiling Tiles absorb noise and block sound
transmission. These ceiling tiles are designed to fit into existing 2' x
2' suspended drop tile ceiling grid systems. They may also retrofit in
a 2' x 4' ceiling grid by installing cross tees.

f) Baffles and banners - are designed to solve acoustical problems

economically in any large cubic volume space such as arenas,
gymnasiums, theaters, restaurants, and auditoriums. Reverberation
times that range from 4 to 9 seconds can be reduced to 1/2 to 2
seconds. Speech intelligibility is greatly improved and sound intensity
levels are reduced simultaneously by 3 to 12 decibels.

Baffles are an economical way to reduce sound pressure levels and lower
reverberation times in large spaces such as gymnasiums, theaters,
restaurants, health and fitness clubs. They are designed to hang in a
 vertical fashion, allowing free flow of air and integrate exceptionally
well with existing sprinklers, lighting and HVAC systems.
Banners- Speech intelligibility is greatly improved and sound intensity
levels can be simultaneously reduced by 3 to 12 decibels. •Banners are
suspended from ceilings, bar joists or pre-engineered suspension
systems. They are designed to hang in a horizontal or in a catenary
fashion using edge stiffeners or deck mounted flat with washer plates

B. SOUND DIFFUSERS - These devices reduce the intensity of sound by

scattering it over an expanded area, rather than eliminating the sound
reflections as an absorber would.

1. QUADRA PYRAMID DIFFUSER generates a

uniform polar response over a broad frequency
range using a pre-rotated pyramidal pattern to
create 16 angles of reflection.

2. PYRAMIDAL DIFFUSER. This traditional

industry workhorse disperses sound uniformly
over a broad frequency range. A quick solution
to reduce flutter echo.

3. DOUBLE DUTY DIFFUSER •These

Polycylindrical Diffusers do twice the work.
They scatter sound and function as a bass
trap.

4. QUADRATIC DIFFUSER. A true quadratic

residue diffuser designed for uniform
broadband scattering and reducing High-Q
reflections.

C. NOISE BARRIERS - These materials range from

dense materials to block the transmission of airborne sound to devices
and compounds used to isolate structures from one another and reduce
impact noise.
 Sound barrier materials are used to reduce the transmission of
airborne sound. The BlockAid® series of products include the standard
one pound per square foot non reinforced barrier, transparent material
when observation or supervision is required, reinforced vinyl to create a
hanging barrier partition.

The materials used to carry out the function

of blocking sounds could be anything like
bricks, concrete, steel, plastic, insulating-
wool etc. Trees are also effective in acting as
sound barriers.

1. COMPOSITES materials are manufactured from combinations of

various materials from open and closed celled foams to quilted
fiberglass and barrier. These products are used to block and absorb
sound for machine enclosures as well as blocking airborne sound and
impact noise. Some of these products include, and.

Composite Foams
StratiQuilt Blankets Floor Underlayment

2. VIBRATION CONTROL
products are used to
absorb vibration energy
and prevent structural
noise transmission. These
include vibration damping
compounds and vibration
pads, isolation hangers,
and resilient clips. They
improve sound
transmission loss.

vibration pads

isolation hangers
 resilient
clips

D. SOUND REFLECTORS - Acoustic reflectors provide clarity in large venues

by evenly dispersing sound and controlling late reflections. are acoustical
materials used to reflect and concentrate waves of sounds to a particular
point.
This property helps in amplifying sounds without the use of artificial
amplifiers. This is generally avoided in smaller spaces as concentration of
sounds results in high intensity sounds which are harmful. Gypsum
boards, vinyl or fabric-finishes are commonly used reflective materials.
 Gypsum boards

ACOUSTIC PROPERTIES OF MASONRY, CONCRETE OR STONE MATERIALS

Mass and rigidity property are the two factors that make a material to be
highly noise resistant. The concrete wall is highly efficient than masonry.
Masonry material made floor or wall do perform appreciably.
Massive materials like stone, concrete can stop high sound waves that are
less resistant to less massive materials. Concrete slabs do perform good in the
sound insulation activity.
ACOUSTIC PROPERTIES OF WOOD AND RELATED PRODUCTS
These are less dense than masonry. They have a smaller performance in
sound isolation. MDF woods are more massive that are added to certain interior
walls to increase the massiveness. The most common material plywood, which
is used in multilayer in interiors, to make it sound proof.
Mainly wood is used in rooms where perfect sounding is required. It can
reflect sound which can be considered as an important property for sound
treatment. It resonates easily which promotes absorption of sound, some of
which pass through the material and some reflects. Therefore, these are used in
making of instruments.

ACOUSTIC PROPERTIES OF STEEL

Based on performance and structure, steel is one of the best material for
sound insulation. Because of high cost, it has less application. It is highly dense
and massive in nature.
Steel carries the sound through vibration within the material. This sound
transfer is called as the structure-borne vibration. The normal case is airborne
vibration which is not appreciable.
ACOUSTIC PROPERTIES OF GLASS & TRANSPARENT MATERIALS
The glass is massive in nature. There is a new development of absorptive
glass-like materials that have the property to absorb more sound waves instead
of reflecting. The material is made from Plexiglas or transparent foil thinner in
nature with tiny holes. Their application comes in sound studios.

ACOUSTIC PROPERTIES OF INSULATING MATERIALS

Foam, fiberglass, rock wool etc. can be considered as the insulating
materials we are familiar. The fiberglass material gains higher sound absorption
property.
These materials absorb sound by reducing the velocity of particles that
carry the sound waves in the air. Under low velocity, the pressure is high. Now
wood materials absorb more sound at high pressure.
Sound waves gain higher pressure at room boundaries. So, care must be
taken in the arrangement of boundaries or walls. For multiple boundaries like
dihedral or trihedral walls, the sound waves are at higher pressures.

ACOUSTIC PROPERTIES OF RUBBER AND PLASTIC

The known materials are vinyl, neoprene etc. These materials are used to
make low cost economical acoustical devices. But their use is almost considered
limited. They can be used as mechanical isolators for floating glass, by
preventing vibrations of the diaphragm to be transmitted to the walls.
DATA ON OPTIMUM REVERBERATION TIME

Note: Long reverberation times degrade speech perception of hearing-impaired

persons far more than normal-hearing persons. For hearing-impaired and elderly
listeners, reverberation times should be well below most of the values in the
graph (e.g., < 0.5 s for satisfactory speech perception).
SOUND ABSORPTION DATA FOR COMMON BUILDING MATERIALS AND
FURNISHINGS
*NRC (Noise Reduction Coefficient) is a single-number rating of the sound
absorption coefficients of a material. It is an average that only includes the
coefficients in the 250 to 2000 Hz frequency range and therefore should be used
with caution. See page 50 for a discussion of the NRC rating method.
Coefficients are per square foot of seating floor area or per unit. Where the
audience is randomly spaced (e.g., courtroom, cafeteria), mid-frequency
absorption can be estimated at about 5 sabins per person. To be precise,
coefficients per person must be stated in relation to spacing pattern.
The floor area occupied by the audience must be calculated to include an
edge effect at aisles. For an aisle bounded on both sides by audience, include a
strip 3 ft. wide; for an aisle bounded on only one side by audience, include a
strip 1 1/2 ft. wide. No edge effect is used when the seating abuts walls or
balcony fronts (because the edge is shielded).
The coefficients are also valid for orchestra and choral areas at 5 to 8 ft2
per person. Orchestra areas include people, instruments, music racks, etc. No
edge effects are used around musicians.
Coefficients for openings depend on absorption and cubic volume of opposite
side.
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