Acoustics

Room Acoustics
In some areas such as lecture theatres, concert halls and conference rooms the
acoustics are important.
The shape of an auditorium is significant since sound may be directly or
indirectly transmitted to the audience. The diagram below shows an elevation of
an auditorium with a shape to give improved room acoustics.

Sound directed to audience a

Sounding Board or sloped ceiling

SOUND
SOURCE

Raised speaker improves direct sound transmission

Raked seating improves audience direct path to sound sou

AUDITORIUM SHAPE

Reverberation Time
If sound in a room is reflected from several surfaces it will reach the receiver at
different times and in the worst cases an echo is set up.
The reverberation time is a standard to indicate the time taken for a sound to
decay by 60 decibels.
It is also the time taken for the sound intensity to die away to one millionth of
its original intensity, the symbol is t and the units are in seconds.
The table below shows some typical reverberation times

Use

Small Rooms

Medium Rooms

Large Rooms

750 m3

750 7500 m3

Over 7500 m3

0.75
1.00
1.50

0.75 - 1.00
1.00 - 1.25
1.50 - 2.00

1.00
1.00 - 2.00
2.00 or more

Speech
Multi-purpose
Music

Sabine Formula
Sabine devised an equation which relates reverberation time t with volume V
of a room and the total absorption a of the room.

0.16V
a

The absorption a is found by obtaining the sound absorption coefficient () for

each material in the room and multiplying it by the areas (s) of each material
and adding all the absorptions together.

0.16V
s

Example 1
Calculate the reverberation time for a hall of volume 4000m 3 at 500Hz given the
following surfaces finishes.
Item

Area x Absorption

Area s
(m2)

Absorption
at 500Hz

. s

Brick wall

520

0.02

10.4

Plaster

700

0.02

14

Carpet

300

0.30

90

Curtain

70

0.40

28

Canvas Scenery

200

0.30

60

Acoustic Board

100

0.70

70

300 No

0.4m2 units/seat

120

Seat occupied

.s 392.4
=

0.16V
s

0.16 x 4000
392.4

1.63 sec

For this size of room a reverberation time of 1.63 seconds is suitable for music
but not for speech.

Example 2
Calculate:
a the reverberation time for a hall of volume 2750m 3 at 500Hz given the
following surfaces finishes.
b The extra area of curtain required to reduce the reverberation time to 1.1
seconds.

Item

Area x Absorption

Area s
(m2)

Absorption
at 500Hz

. s

Brick wall

210

0.02

4.2

Plaster

300

0.02

6.0

Carpet

220

0.30

66.0

Curtain

60

0.40

24.0

Canvas Scenery

120

0.30

36.0

Acoustic Board

130

0.70

91.0

250 No

0.4m2 units/seat

100.0

Seat occupied

s 327.2
Answer (a)
t

0.16V
a

( 0.16 x 2750 ) / 327.2 = 1.34 seconds

Answer (b)
Make rev time 1.1 seconds
Rearranging the Sabine formula:
a

0.16 V / t
( 0.16 x 2750 ) / 1.1 = 400

Extra absorption 400 - 327.2 = 72.8

For curtain .s = 72.8 extra
Extra curtain area s = 72.8 / 0.4 = 182 m2.

Improving Room Acoustics

To improve a rooms acoustics for a particular purpose it will be necessary to
alter the total absorption (a).
A number of different types of absorbent may be required or it may be possible
to concentrate on one material or area to improve the reverberation time.
Fibre-boards and similar soft materials are very efficient absorbers at high
frequencies but not at low frequencies.
A thin panel concealing a space lined with absorbent is an efficient absorber at
low frequency.
The position of any absorbing material is important and back walls are
frequently the first choice. Sometimes a simple solution to improve
reverberation time is the addition of curtains or to improve existing curtain
material.
The table below shows some absorbing materials.
ITEM

ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT
125 Hz

500 Hz

2000 Hz

0.007

Audience (padded seats)

per person

0.17

0.43

0.47

Seats (padded) per seat

0.08

0.16

0.19

Brickwork

0.02

0.02

0.04

Floor tiles (hard)

0.03

0.03

0.05

Plaster

0.02

0.02

0.04

Window (5mm)

0.02

0.01

0.05

0.30

0.30

0.30

0.20

0.10

0.04

0.40

0.15

0.10

0.10

0.40

0.50

Air

Fibreboard with space

behind
Suspended plaster-board
ceiling
Ply panel over air space with
absorbent
Curtains - heavy

Partition Insulation
The amount of Sound reduction in decibels (dB) through a partition can be
defined as the Sound Reduction Index. A formula for SRI is given below.

S.R.I. in dB =
Where:
T = average sound transmission

10 log10 1
T
= area x transmission coefficient for material

See formula below;

TAV x A

= T1 x A1 + T2 x A2

Example 3
Calculate the sound reduction of the partition as shown below.
Window: 2m wide x 1.5m high
T = 0.016

3.50 m
Brick wall
Plastered both sides
Single leaf
Total thickness = 250mm
T = 8 x 10-6
15.00 m

TAV x A

T1 x A1 + T2 x A2

TAV x 52.5

8 x 10-6 x {(15 x 3.5) - (2 x 1.5)} + 0.016 x 2 x 1.5

TAV x 52.5

8 x 10-6 x (52.5 - 3) + 0.016 x 3

TAV x 52.5

(8 x 10-6 x 49.5) + 0.048

TAV x 52.5

0.000396 + 0.048

TAV x 52.5
TA

4.84 x 10-2

4.84 x 10-2
52.5

9.219 x 10-4
1
S.R.I. in dB = 10 log10 T
TAV

1 x 10-4
S.R.I. in dB = 10 log10 9.219
Casio calculators - Enter 1 divide by 9.219 x 10-4 (EXP button for 10-4 and +/- button to
change sign)then equals button then Log button then x 10.

S.R.I. in dB = 30.35 dB

Example 4
Calculate the sound reduction of the partition as shown below.
Windows: each 1.2m wide x 1.0m high.
T = 0.016

Brick wall
thickness - 300mm
T = 0.005

3.30 m

12.00 m

TAV x A

T1 x A1 + T2 x A2

TAV x 12.0 x 3.3

0.005 x {(12 x 3.3) - (2 x 1.2)} + 0.016 x 2 x 1.2 x 1.0

TAV x 39.6

0.005 x (37.2) + 0.016 x 2.4

TAV x 39.6

0.186 + 0.0384

TAV x 39.6

0.2244

TAv

0.2244
39.6

TAV

5.6666 x 10-3

1/ TAV =

176.47

S.R.I. in dB = 10 x log10

1
T

S.R.I. in dB = 10 log10 176.46

S.R.I. in dB = 22.47 dB

The table below shows some typical Sound Reduction Index (SRI) figures for
partitions.
Type of Partition
280mm cavity wall with both
outer faces plastered
Single sheet (24 oz) glass in
wood or sealed metal frame
Single 6mm plate glass in
wood or sealed metal frame
Double glazing, two sheets
of (24oz) glass in frame with
7mm airspace.

Weight
(kg/m3
)

Sound reduction Index (dB) at frequency listed

125
Hz

250
Hz

500
Hz

1000
Hz

2000
Hz

4000
Hz

29

40

45

62

72

84

6.8

15

20

22

27

29

25

16.6

20

21

26

29

29

38

15.1

19

16

21

27

30

29