BUILDING SERVICES-II

(ELECTRICAL, ILLUMINATION
AND ACOUSTICS)

ASSIGNMENT (UNIT –
4)
ARC2060

SUBMITTED BY:- TARIQ TANSEEF

18ARB565
 Q1. What are acoustical defects? Explain.
Ans.
• Acoustical conditions in a big room, ball or auditorium etc. are achieved when there is
clarity of sound in every part of me occupied space.
• For this, the sound should rise to suitable intensity everywhere with no echoes or near
echoes or distortion of the original sound ; with correct reverberation time.
• Acoustical defects in buildings are just as important to recognize, diagnose and remedy as
common building defects. Both types of defects occur in buildings for similar reasons and
these range from design and constructional errors to the breakdown of building materials or
elements.
Some acoustical defects that cause distortion in sound or hinders its path, intensity
or any characteristic are listed below:
1. Reverberation
• Reverberation is the collection of reflected sounds from the surfaces in an enclosure like an
auditorium. It is a desirable property of auditoriums to the extent that it helps to overcome
the inverse square law drop-off of sound intensity in the enclosure.
• However, if it is excessive, it makes the sounds run together with loss of articulation - the
sound becomes muddy, garbled. To quantitatively characterize the reverberation, the
parameter called the reverberation time is used.
• However, some reverberation is essential for improving quality of sound. Thus, optimum
clarity depends upon correct reverberation time which can be controlled by suitably
installing the absorbent materials . 

2. Formation of echoes
• Echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The
delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the
listener. Typical examples are the echo produced by the bottom of a well, by a building, or by the
walls of an enclosed room and an empty room. A true echo is a single reflection of the sound
source.
• Acoustic waves are reflected by walls or other hard surfaces, such as mountains and privacy
fences. 
• This can be heard when the reflection returns with sufficient magnitude and delay to be perceived
distinctly. When sound, or the echo itself, is reflected multiple times from multiple surfaces, the
echo is characterized as a reverberation.
• This illustration depicts the principle of sediment echo sounding, which uses a narrow beam of
high energy and low frequency
• The human ear cannot distinguish echo from the original direct sound if the delay is less than 1/10
of a second.
• This defect can be removed by selecting a proper shape of the hall. Use of splayed walls can
help in reducing excess echo.
• Echoes may also be avoided by covering the walls and ceiling with an absorptive material.

3. Sound Foci
• In case of concave shaped reflecting interior surface or domed ceiling or an enclosure,
depending upon the curvature of these surfaces, there is possibility of meeting the sound rays at
appoint called as sound foci and thus it creates the sound of large intensity . these spots of
unusual loudness is called sound foci. This defect can be minimized by providing proper
geometrical design. Shape of the interior faces including ceiling and also by providing
absorbent materials on focusing areas.

4. Dead Spots
• This is mainly due to sound –foci. Due to the high concentration of reflected sound at sound foci,
there is deficiency of reflected sound rays at some other points. In this areas low sound intensity
may result in unsatisfactory hearing for the audience called as dead spots.
• This defect can be minimized by providing diffusers , which provides the uniform distribution of
sound throughout the auditorium.

5. Insufficient Loudness
• In case of theatre or large auditoriums, the speakers voice or music from the stage should be
easily audible in all parts of the hall at a uniform intensity of loudness. To achieve this , the sound
waves should be properly reflected and uniform ally spread all over the interior part of the
auditorium.
• But due to the lack of sound reflecting flat surfaces near the sound source or stage and excessive
absorption of sound in the hall resulting the defect of insufficient loudness.
• This defect can be minimized by providing hard surface near the stage and absorbent material
should be provided as per the requirements. Also the location of the loud-speakers should be
adjusted. So that there is no dead spots and sound foci.

6. External noise
• Noise, in acoustics, any undesired sound, either one that is intrinsically objectionable or one that
interferes with other sounds that are being listened to.
• This effect can be reduced by proper planning and designing
of the hall and adapting various acoustical treatments.
7. Echelon Effect
• The process of combination of multiple echoes and forming of a new sound is known as
echelon effect.
• A set of railings or rectangular surfaces is said to produce echelon effect.
• This echelon effect affects the original quality of sound.
• If in the auditorium set of railings, staircase or any regular spacing of reflected surface may
produce a musical note due to regular succession of echoes of the original sound to listener.
This makes the original sound to appear confused. So to avoid this problem either avoid use
of such surface or keep them covered with thick carpets.
• The effect to avoid echelon effect is to cover such surfaces with sound absorbing materials.
Q2. How does the shape of ceiling affect the sound path?
Ans.

• Ceilings constitute design opportunities for transporting sound energy from the stage to distant
listeners.

• The figure illustrates how a ceiling can convey sound to the listeners without imposing a great
time difference between direct and ceiling-reflected sound. Floor profile is also important in
establishing the proper ratio of direct to indirect sound.

• Shape of the reflector on the ceiling also determines the path of the sound. They are used either
to diverge the sound in all directions, to converge the sound at a particular place, to direct the
sound in a direction or to evenly distribute the sound in all directions or space.
Q3. What are the sound absorbing materials?
Ans.

• Sound-absorbing materials 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.
Types of Sound Absorbing Materials
• Acoustic absorption is the process by which sound energy is dissipated and transformed into
another form of energy: heat, mechanical, or deformation.
• From a scientific standpoint, there are three primary types of sound absorbers: porous,
membrane, and resonance.
• A number of sound-absorbing materials exist. Their ability to absorb sound waves is highly
dependent on frequency, composition, thickness, and method of mounting.

1. Porous Absorbers

• Materials with a high sound absorption coefficient are

usually porous.
• Unlike soundproofing materials, sound absorbent materials
aren't dense, they're permeable. Sound waves penetrate the
surface of these materials, and flow into the fibrous or
cellular structure that it's comprised of.
• It's important to remember that energy can never be
created or destroyed, it can only be transformed. Porous
absorbers will convert incident sound energy into heat
energy through frictional and viscous resistance in the
fibrous or cellular structure of the material.

2. Membrane/Plate Absorbers

• A membrane or plate absorber is an air impervious, non-rigid,

non-porous material that's placed over an airspace. When sound
energy is applied to the absorber it causes the oscillating system
(mass of the front panel and the spring formed by trapped air) to
transform into mechanical energy.
• These materials are typically solid in appearance, and as such,
they are commonly overlooked as sound absorbing materials. 
• They also will reflect higher frequency sounds. Other forms of
soundproofing and absorbing will need to be applied to counter-
act this added effect.
• Common examples of membrane absorbers are wood or
hardboard paneling, suspended plaster ceilings, windows, wood
doors, gypsum boards, and wood floors.
3. Resonate/Resonance Absorbers

• These types of sound absorbers are typically only used when

you need to combat sound in a narrow, yet defined frequency
range. They're used to focus on issues related to bass
frequencies.
• These types of absorbers work based on sound pressure. It's
essentially a mass (front wall or diaphragm) vibrating
against a spring (the air inside the resonant absorber). By
changing either the mass or the spring's stiffness, you can
adjust for resonant frequency.
• They contain a mechanical or acoustical oscillation system
where they have plates with an air space. Those plates can be
either of perforated materials or with a hole or an opening.
• The holes or openings are able to trap and lock the sound
inside, so the echo is successfully absorbed and reduced.

Materials Used as Sound Absorbers

1. Acoustic foam
2.  Sound Absorbing Foam (Pro Studio Acoustics Tiles)
3. Acoustic Panels  1.
4. Acoustic Curtains 
5. Sound Absorbing Underlayment
6. Acoustic partitions
7. Acoustic cotton batts 
8. Acoustic mineral wool

2.

3. 4. 5. 6.

7. 8.
Q4. How can you control the flutter echo? Explain it in your own words.
Ans.

• Flutter echo is an energy that’s trapped between two surfaces and the angle that the sound
enters between the two surfaces.
• The sound energy depending on its wavelength is trapped between two parallel surfaces. We
get a series of reflections in short time signatures and then that translates into energy
moving across the area between those surfaces.
• This energy movement excites the air between those two surfaces and with that air
excitation we get audible distortion. This distortion can occur between walls, cabinets and
bookshelves.
• A partially treated room is normally to blame for Flutter Echo, wherein two portions of
walls, ceiling or floor are non-absorptive and face directly at one another. Depending on
room size, the nature of this echo can vary from a fast procession of separate, distinct sound
events, to a seemingly unbroken series of echoes. 
• Since flutter echo is mainly caused because of
repetitive internal reflections between two
parallel surfaces, it can only be controlled by
avoiding having two parallel surfaces in the
design.

• This can be done by adopting different geometrical shapes in the design that do not have
parallel reflective surfaces. The walls or the roof and floor can be splayed at an angle to avoid
this effect.
• Some acoustical treatment can also be adopted on the walls and roof (in case of parallel
surfaces) that make them less reflective and absorb the sound and avoid the echo. Eg. Acoustic
panels, Foam, etc.