SOUND ABSORPTION, REFLECTION &

TRANSMISSION, MECHANISM OF ABSORPTION

REVERBERATION TIME
(AR326 – ACOUSTICS & LIGHTING REPORT PRESENTATION)

SUBMITTED BY:

NARAG, MA. CAMILLE

FAJARDO, XERMIEL MARIE
MANAHAN, AMADO
MENDOZA, JAIRO
FLORES, CHRISTIAN

SUBMITTED TO:

AR. ERIKA DIA

 SOUND ABSORPTION

DEFINITION:

 The sound phenomenon that happens to sound

when it strikes a surface is that the sound is
absorbed by the surface

 It is when sound waves strikes an absorbent

surface, the sound waves through friction on the
pores of the surface are transformed into heat
energy
 SOUND ABSORPTION

TYPES OF ABSORBENT SURFACES:

1. SOFT & POROUS SURFACES

 Such as corkboard, foam or Styrofoam or any
material which has this property like
draperies on the walls and carpets on the
floor

2. PANEL ABSORBER
 Consisting of two layers of materials with an
airspace between them. The outer layer,
being of porous type and the inner layer of
solid background.
 SOUND ABSORPTION

TYPES OF ABSORBENT SURFACES:

3. CAVITY RESONATOR
 Consisting of an enclosed body of air which
is connected by a narrow passage with the
space containing the sound waves. This type
of absorber is effective only at the resonant
frequency, meaning it can only absorb some
sounds.
 SOUND ABSORPTION

 When the sound wave is transformed into heat

energy, the sound will no longer be reflected. The
sound heard is only the direct sound.

 This sound absorption efficiency of material is

measured in terms of units known as “sobius”, in
which one Sabin means perfect absorption and 0
means no absorption.

Number 1 absorption
- open window or door
- a line of pillows
- two closets facing each other and
sandwiching a wall
 REFLECTION & TRANSMISSION

DECIBEL (db)
 Measurement of intensity of sound

40db
 Limit for comfortable hearing

100-120db
 Can no longer be comfortable, that is painful to
the ear

ECHO
 Is the reflected sound
 RELECTION & TRANSMISSION

 When an acoustic wave is incident on a barrier,

some of the incident energy is reflected, some
absorbed and some transmitted.

 When an acoustic wave traveling in one medium

encounters the boundary of a second medium,
reflected and transmitted waves are generated.
 REFLECTION & TRANSMISSION

Acoustic transmission in building design refers to a

number of processes by which sound can be
transferred from one part of a building to another.
Typically these are:

1. Airborne transmission

 A noise source in one room sends air

pressure waves which induce vibration to one
side of a wall or element of structure setting
it moving such that the other face of the wall
vibrates in an adjacent room. Structural
isolation therefore becomes an important
consideration in the acoustic design of
buildings.
 REFLECTION & TRANSMISSION

 Highly sensitive areas of buildings, for

example recording studios, may be almost
entirely isolated from the rest of a structure
by constructing the studios as effective boxes
supported by springs. Air tightness also
becomes an important control technique. A
tightly sealed door might have reasonable
sound reduction properties, but if it is left
open only a few millimeters its effectiveness
is reduced to practically nothing. The most
important acoustic control method is adding
mass into the structure, such as a heavy
dividing wall, which will usually reduce
airborne sound transmission better than a
light one.
 REFLECTION & TRANSMISSION

2. Impact transmission

 a noise source in one room results from an

impact of an object onto a separating
surface, such as a floor and transmits the
sound to an adjacent room. A typical
example would be the sound of footsteps in a
room being heard in a room below. Acoustic
control measures usually include attempts to
isolate the source of the impact, or
cushioning it. For example carpets will
perform significantly better than hard floors.
 REFLECTION & TRANSMISSION

3. Flanking transmission

 a more complex form of noise transmission,

where the resultant vibrations from a noise
source are transmitted to other rooms of the
building usually by elements of structure
within the building. For example, in a steel
framed building, once the frame itself is set
into motion the effective transmission can be
pronounced
REFLECTION & TRANSMISSION

 Example of airborne and

structure-borne transmission
of sound, where Lp is sound
pressure level, A is attenuation, P
is acoustical pressure, S is the area
of the wall [m²], and τ is the
transmission coefficient
 REFLECTION & TRANSMISSION
 The ratios of the pressure amplitudes and
intensities of the reflected and transmitted waves to
those of the incident wave depend on;
• The characteristic acoustic impedances
• Speeds of sound in the two media and
• On the angle the incident wave makes with
the interface.

 The reflection of sound follows the same laws as for

reflection of light
• Angle of incidence = angle of reflection
• The incident wave, the reflected wave and
the normal lay in the same plane

 Sound waves can be reflected by large, hard,

smooth, vertical and faraway surfaces, e.g. walls,
buildings and cliffs.
 MECHANISM OF ABSORPTION

 Reflection from a sound ray bouncing off a

smooth surface. This is called “specular
reflection.” Often the boundary is not smooth as
in the case of a coral filled or rocky ocean floor, or
a wind blown wave filled surface. In this case
sound comes of the surface at various angles and
the result is referred to as scattering.
 MECHANISM OF ABSORPTION

 Sound waves are refracted when parts of a wave

front travel at different speeds

 This happens in uneven winds or temperatures

 Sound waves tend to bend away from warm

ground, since it travels faster in warmer air

 On a cold night, the speed of sound is slower near

the ground than above, so we can hear over
larger distances
MECHANISM OF ABSORPTION
 MECHANISM OF ABSORPTION

 Acoustic absorption is of particular interest

in soundproofing. Soundproofing aims to absorb
as much sound energy (often in particular
frequencies) as possible converting it into heat or
transmitting it away from a certain location.

 In general, soft, pliable, or porous materials (like

cloths) serve as good acoustic insulators -
absorbing most sound, whereas dense, hard,
impenetrable materials (such as metals) reflect
most.
 MECHANISM OF ABSORPTION

SOUNDPROOFING

 is any means of reducing the sound pressure

with respect to a specified sound source and
receptor. There are several basic approaches to
reducing sound: increasing the distance
between source and receiver, using noise
barriers to reflect or absorb the energy of the
sound waves, using damping structures such
as sound baffles, or using active anti-
noise sound generators.
 MECHANISM OF ABSORPTION
Two distinct soundproofing problems:

1. To improve the sound within a room

2. Reduce sound leakage to/from adjacent rooms or

outdoors. 

 Acoustic quieting, noise mitigation, and noise

control can be used to limit unwanted noise.
Soundproofing can suppress unwanted indirect
sound waves such as reflections that
cause echoes and resonances that
cause reverberation. Soundproofing can reduce the
transmission of unwanted direct sound waves from
the source to an involuntary listener through the use
of distance and intervening objects in the sound
 MECHANISM OF ABSORPTION
ABSORPTION

 Absorbing sound spontaneously converts part of

the sound energy to a very small amount of
heat in the intervening object (the absorbing
material), rather than sound being transmitted
or reflected. There are several ways in which a
material can absorb sound. The choice of sound
absorbing material will be determined by the
frequency distribution of noise to be absorbed
and the acoustic absorption profile required.
 MECHANISM OF ABSORPTION
TYPES OF ABSORPTION

1. Porous absorbers

 Porous absorbers, typically open

cell rubber foams or melamine sponges,
absorb noise by friction within the cell
structure.

 Porous open cell foams are highly effective

noise absorbers across a broad range of
medium-high frequencies. Performance is
less impressive at low frequencies.
 MECHANISM OF ABSORPTION
TYPES OF ABSORPTION

 The exact absorption profile of a porous open

cell foam will be determined by a number of
factors including the following:

• Cell size
• Tortuosity
• Porosity
• Material thickness
• Material density
 MECHANISM OF ABSORPTION
TYPES OF ABSORPTION

2. Resonant absorbers
 Resonant panels, Helmholtz resonators and
other resonant absorbers work by damping a
sound wave as they reflect it.

 Unlike porous absorbers, resonant absorbers

are most effective at low-medium
frequencies and the absorption of resonant
absorbers is always matched to a narrow
frequency range.
 MECHANISM OF ABSORPTION
NOISE CONTROL MECHANISM

1. Active Noise control

 Modifying and canceling sound field by

electro-acoustical approaches is called active
noise control. There are two methods for
active control. First by utilizing the actuators
as an acoustic source to produce completely
out of phase signals to eliminate the
disturbances. second method is to use
flexible and vibro-elastic materials to radiate
a sound field interfering with the
disturbances and minimize the overall
intensity. The latter method is called active
 MECHANISM OF ABSORPTION

NOISE CONTROL MECHANISM

2. Passive Noise Control

 Passive noise control refers to those methods

that aim to suppress the sound by modifying
the environment close to the source. Since
no input power is required in such methods,
Passive noise control is often cheaper than
active control, however the performance is
limited to mid and high frequencies. active
control works well for low frequencies hence,
the combination of two methods may be
utilized for broadband noise reduction.
 MECHANISM OF ABSORPTION
NOISE CONTROL MECHANISM
 REVERBERATION TIME

 Some of the energy comes back in the direction

toward the source of the incident sound and is
called backscattering.

 In the operation of an active sonar system this

backscattering results in the reception of
unwanted sound which tends to mask the target
echo.

 This unwanted sound is called “surface

reverberation.”
 REVERBERATION TIME
REVERBERATION

 Is a series of echoes coming from the same

source

REVERBERATION TIME

 is the time in seconds that a reflected sound

diminishes for the case by 60db after the
original sound has stopped

 The reverberation time of a room describes how

long a sound “lingers” or “persists” after the
source has stopped emitting it. This quality is
also described a room using subjective terms
such as “active”, or “live”, or “echoey”
 REVERBERATION TIME
 In a given room, the reverberation time can be
altered by adding (or removing) absorbent
materials; for example in a school hall, a long RT60
can be reduced by the introduction of a heavy
carpet; however, heavy curtains may be preferred
so that the RT60 can be altered

 The desirable reverberation time will vary

depending on the use to which the room is put. Too
little reverberation and sound does not travel well
throughout the room, equally the acoustic is dead
and rather unpleasant. More reverberation aids the
sound to carry and adds character to the acoustic;
too much reverberation and clarity is lost in a
confusing "mish-mash" of echoes. The balance
between sound carrying, acoustic quality and clarity
is different for speech or music
 REVERBERATION TIME
REVERBERATION TIME
DEMONSTRATIONS
1. NO REVERBERATION

2. WITH 0.6 SEC REVERBERATION

TIME (RT)

3. WITH 0.8 SEC REVERBERATION

TIME (RT)

4. WITH 1.3 SECS REVERBERATION

TIME (RT)
 REVERBERATION TIME
REVERBERATION TIME
DEMONSTRATIONS

5. WITH 2.0 SECS REVERBERATION

TIME (RT)

6. WITH 5.0 SECS REVERBERATION

TIME (RT)