BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES

ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES OF BUILDING

MATERIALS
 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES
o SOUND
• Anything that can be heard is sound.
• Sound is the sensation cased by a vibrating medium acting on the ear.
• Sound is measured in decibel. The unit is dB
• Hearing decibel range in human >>>>( 10 – 130 )dB
• medium can be gas, liquid or solid, and doesn’t travel in vacuum.
•Transmitted as the longitudinal wave motion in the form of successive
compression and rarefaction of molecules.
•Range of hearing loudness
•Rustle of leaves, whisper ---- 10 dB
•Airplane, pneumatic drill ---- 130 dB
•Range of hearing frequency
•Low ---- 20 Hz/ s
•High ---- 20000 Hz/s , these range change with age and other subjective
factors.
o ACOUSTICS
•Science of sound, dealing with origin, propagation and auditory sensation of
sound, and also with design and construction of different building units to set
optimum conditions for producing and listening speech, music……..
•Necessary for functional design of theaters, conference halls, hospitals……..
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o TRANSMISSION OF SOUND
• Medium can be a gas (air), Liquid or a solid. (Sound cannot travel
through vacuum)
• Produced by an object that moves rapidly in to-and-fro motion causing
disturbance to the tiny air particles around that medium. The disturbance
sets off a chain reaction between adjacent air particles which travels to
some distance from the source after which it slows down and disappears
(becomes inaudible).
 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES

• Sound travels in a pattern of successive compression and rarefaction of the

molecules of the medium. The vibration is transmitted as longitudinal wave
motion. It can be graphically represented by a sine curve. Strength of sound
(loudness) is indicated by the amplitude of the sine curve.
•V=f xλ
• Wavelength ( λ )–Distance between successive crests or troughs. Unit- meter
(m)
• Frequency ( f ) - No. of cycles per unit time (determines the pitch) Unit–Hertz
(Hz)
( 1 Hz = 1 wave per second )
( Human ear can appreciate 16 Hz to 20000Hz.)
•Velocity ( v ) – Distance traveled per unit time. Unit Meter per Second ( m/s )
•Velocity of sound in some common materials
•Air ---------- 345 m/s
•Water ---------- 1480 m/s
•Stone/brick wall ---------- 3900 m/s
•Timber
•Along fiber ---------- 4000 m/s
•Across fiber ---------- 1500 m/s
•Steel ---------- 5000 m/s
 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES
o BEHAVIOUR OF SOUND
• When sound waves strike the surface of a room some of the sound is
• Reflected back in the room
• Absorbed by the surfaces and listeners
• Transmitted outside the room
• The amount of sound reflected or absorbed depends upon the surface
while transmission depends upon properties of sound insulation.

• REFLECTION (R)
• Sound waves reflect in same manner as that of light waves with angle of
incidence being equal to angle of reflection.
• Helps enhancement of loudness and enrichment of total quality.
• Reflection by convex surface may be advantageous>>> spread sound
throughout the room.
• Reflection by concave surface may be used to intensify the wave at certain
points of the room.
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• ABSORPTION (A)
• A part of sound energy is absorbed by a surface when the wave strikes the
surface.
• Absorption of sound in a room may be in four ways:
• In the air(due to friction between oscillating molecules)
• By the audience(by clothing>> more in winter than in summer)
• In furniture and furnishing
• At the boundary surfaces (due to porous materials, molecular damping in
soft materials, transmission through structures, resonant vibration of
materials)
 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES
o CLASSIFICATION OF SOUND
•Air Borne : These Sound travels through air and reaches directly to the receiver;
through doors, windows and other openings. ( Example; Radio, Conversation )

•Structure Borne ( Impact ) : Sound is transmitted through structural components

(solid).
( Examples; Footsteps, hammering……. )

o DEFECTS OF SOUND
1.Echo : is produced when the reflected sound reaches the air just after the
original one.
• If the time interval between the reflected wave and the original wave is
1/10 th the second, echo is produced.
• Echo may cause blurring of sound
• Multiple echoes may be heard when a sound is reflected from a number of
surfaces suitably placed.
 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES

2. Reverberation
•Persistence of sound even after the source of sound has ceased.
•Or the collection of multiple reflected sounds.
•Causes due to the multiple reflection of sound in an enclosure.
•Can be foe or friend to us.
• is helpful in enhancing the sound produced (to the extent that overcomes the
inverse square law.)
•anything in excess interferes with the clarity.
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•Reverberation Time
•Time taken for sound energy to decay by below annoyance level(60 dB) after the
sound source has stopped.
•This depends on the volume of the room and the total absorptive quality of the
surfaces inside the room.
•Varies inversely with effective surface area and varies directly with volume of the
room( found experimentally).

•Sabine’s formula;
t = 0.16 V = 0.16 V ______ where,
S a1s1 + a2s2+ a3s3…..
a1, a2, a3… = absorption coefficient of various materials
s1, s2, s3… = area of absorbing surfaces
t = reverberation time
V = Volume of the room ( m3 )
S = Total absorption
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• DESIRABLE REVERBERATION TIME

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES

•If the reverberation time ( t ) is too long, it results in overlapping of speech and
loss of intelligibility.
• If it is too short, it results in deadness and loss of brilliance of sound.

0.5 to 1.5 -Excellent

1.5 to 2 - Good
2 To 3 -Fairly good
3 To 5 -Bad
Above 5 -Very bad
• Reverberation time varies with the purpose of the enclosure and the selection of
the correct reverberation time is called Optimal Reverberation Time.
BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES
 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES
3. SOUND FOCI
•Concentration of reflected sound waves at a point.
•Cause due to reflection from concave surface
•Can be removed by correct geometrical designing of interior surface of room
•Can be removed by providing highly absorbent materials on the focusing area.

4. DEAD SPOT
•An outcome of the formation of sound foci.
•Because of sound foci there is deficiency of sound at some other points, and these points
are known as dead points.
•Waves can interfere so destructively with one another that they produce dead
spots, or places where no sound at all can be heard.
• Dead spots occur when the compressions of one wave line up with the
rarefactions from another wave and cancel each other.
•Designers of theaters or auditoriums must take into account sound wave
interference, the shape of the building or stage and the materials used to build it
are chosen based on interference patterns.
 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES
o NOISE AND ITS EFFECTS
•Any unwanted sound reaching the ears is noise.
•May be due to frequency of sound or intensity of sound or both.
•Effects
•Discomfort
•Adverse effect on blood pressure, muscular strain
•Leads to fatigue and decreases the efficiency of person
•Disturbs concentration
•May result temporary deafness or even nervous breakdown.
•Noise has both physiological and psychological effects. Measuring annoyance can
be tough, a pleasant sound for a person may be a noise for some other. An
accepted sound at a given time may be a noise at some other.
•Magnitude of noise level:
•Light road traffic 60-70dB physiological effect(annoyance)
•Medium road traffic 70-80dB physiological
effect(annoyance)
•Heavy road traffics 80-90dB prolonged exposure causes
permanent hearing loss
•Rail traffics 90-100dB prolonged exposure causes
damage to auditory organ
•Air traffics 100-130dB causes pain
> 130dB instantaneous loss of
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•NOISE CONTROL
•PRINCIPLES OF NOISE REDUCTION
• Reduction of noise generation at the source by proper selection and
installation of equipments.
• Reduction of noise transmission from point to point by proper selection of
construction materials and appropriate construction techniques.
• Reduction of noise at receiver through acoustical treatment of the relevant
space
•Against external noises
•Distance
•Zoning/planning
•Appropriate placement of openings
•Noise insulating building envelope

•Against internal noise

•Reduction at source
•Isolation and enclosing the source or the receiver
•Design /layout of rooms
•Use of resilient materials for impact noise
•Air tight/noise insulating construction for airborne noise
•Discontinuity in construction for structure borne noise.
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o Sound Insulation
• Sound absorbent
• Loss of sound energy is due to its conversion into heat energy through
frictional resistance inside the pores of the material. Hard, rigid, non-porous
and shiny surfaces provide least absorption, whereas flexible, soft, porous
materials absorb sound significantly.

• The percentage of incident sound absorbed by a material is termed as the

absorption coefficient. This however varies with the frequency of the incident
sound.
•In general, low-density materials have higher absorption coefficient at higher
frequency than at lower frequency.

•Classification of absorbents: Sound absorbent can be broadly classified into

following four categories;

•Porous absorbents
•Resonant absorbents
•Cavity resonators
•Composite absorbents
BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES
•Porous absorbants -
• Absorb high frequency sound through friction within pores.
•Mainly absorb sound in higher frequency.
• Efficiency depend upon porosity, the resistance to air flow through the
material and thickness
•Ex: slag wool, glass wool, asbestos fiber spray, foamed Plastic, Perforated
fiberboard….
•Resonant absorbants
• Absorbs comparatively low frequency(50 – 200 cycles) sound by steel
porous fiberboards vibration against air space, sometimes filled with porous
material.
•are semi hard in the form of porous fiber boards, boards are fixed on timber
frame with air gap between
•Cavity resonators
•Virtually a container with a small opening.
•Absorption takes place inside chambers by resonance of air.
• Effective on selected frequency; A/C plant, machine, pump house
•Composite absorbants
•Developed combining all the above absorbants.
• Perforated panels fixed over an air space filled with porous absorbents.
Panels are made of metal, plywood, plaster board .
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Rock wool

Resonant panel
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Constructional measures
•Walls/partitions
•Absorbents in the walls/ partitions act as the barrier to air borne sound
transmission
•Types
•Rigid and homogeneous partitions
Consists of stone, brick or concrete masonry construction.
Insulation depends upon wt. per unit area
•Partition of porous materials
Can be used in combination with rigid material
•Hollow and composite partitions
Ideal construction for sound insulation
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•Constructional measures
•Floors/ceilings
•Horizontal barrier to noise.
•Act as barrier to airborne and impact sound or noise
•Types
•Resilient surface materials
•Concrete Floating floor construction
•Wooden floors
BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES
BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES
BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES
 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ACOUSTICAL PROPERTIES

•Constructional measures
•Windows and doors
•It should be
-Air tight -Increase weight of shutter
-Double glazed -Use of resilient materials
-Use of thick glass

•Insulating sanitary fittings

•Machine mounting and insulation of machinery

•Machines resting on resilient materials such as steel spring, rubber, corks….