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An energy model for the calculation of room acoustic parameters in rectangular rooms with absorbent ceilings

Nilsson, Erling LU and Arvidsson, Emma LU (2021) In Applied Sciences (Switzerland) 11(14).
Abstract

The most common acoustical treatment of public rooms, such as schools, offices, and healthcare premises, is a suspended absorbent ceiling. The non-uniform distribution of the absorbent material, as well as the influence of sound-scattering objects such as furniture or other interior equipment, has to be taken into account when calculating room acoustic parameters. This requires additional information than what is already inherent in the statistical absorption coefficients and equivalent absorption areas provided by the reverberation chamber method ISO 354. Furthermore, the classical diffuse field assumption cannot be expected to be valid in these types of rooms. The non-isotropic sound field has to be considered. In this paper, a... (More)

The most common acoustical treatment of public rooms, such as schools, offices, and healthcare premises, is a suspended absorbent ceiling. The non-uniform distribution of the absorbent material, as well as the influence of sound-scattering objects such as furniture or other interior equipment, has to be taken into account when calculating room acoustic parameters. This requires additional information than what is already inherent in the statistical absorption coefficients and equivalent absorption areas provided by the reverberation chamber method ISO 354. Furthermore, the classical diffuse field assumption cannot be expected to be valid in these types of rooms. The non-isotropic sound field has to be considered. In this paper, a statistical energy analysis (SEA) model is derived. The sound field is subdivided into a grazing and non-grazing part where the grazing part refers to waves propagating almost parallel to the suspended ceiling. For estimation of all the inherent parameters in the model, the surface impedance of the suspended ceiling has to be known. A method for estimating the scattering and absorbing effects of furniture and objects is suggested in this paper. The room acoustical parameters reverberation time T20, speech clarity C50, and sound strength G were calculated with the model and compared with calculations according to the classical diffuse field model. Comparison with measurements were performed for a classroom configuration. With regard to all cases, the new model agrees better with measurements than the classical one.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Absorption, Airflow resistivity, Calculation models, Room acoustics, Scattering
in
Applied Sciences (Switzerland)
volume
11
issue
14
article number
6607
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85111337777
ISSN
2076-3417
DOI
10.3390/app11146607
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
9fce309f-03e7-435d-9e8d-a8cccea1536b
date added to LUP
2021-08-30 16:49:41
date last changed
2022-04-27 03:31:28
@article{9fce309f-03e7-435d-9e8d-a8cccea1536b,
  abstract     = {{<p>The most common acoustical treatment of public rooms, such as schools, offices, and healthcare premises, is a suspended absorbent ceiling. The non-uniform distribution of the absorbent material, as well as the influence of sound-scattering objects such as furniture or other interior equipment, has to be taken into account when calculating room acoustic parameters. This requires additional information than what is already inherent in the statistical absorption coefficients and equivalent absorption areas provided by the reverberation chamber method ISO 354. Furthermore, the classical diffuse field assumption cannot be expected to be valid in these types of rooms. The non-isotropic sound field has to be considered. In this paper, a statistical energy analysis (SEA) model is derived. The sound field is subdivided into a grazing and non-grazing part where the grazing part refers to waves propagating almost parallel to the suspended ceiling. For estimation of all the inherent parameters in the model, the surface impedance of the suspended ceiling has to be known. A method for estimating the scattering and absorbing effects of furniture and objects is suggested in this paper. The room acoustical parameters reverberation time T<sub>20</sub>, speech clarity C<sub>50</sub>, and sound strength G were calculated with the model and compared with calculations according to the classical diffuse field model. Comparison with measurements were performed for a classroom configuration. With regard to all cases, the new model agrees better with measurements than the classical one.</p>}},
  author       = {{Nilsson, Erling and Arvidsson, Emma}},
  issn         = {{2076-3417}},
  keywords     = {{Absorption; Airflow resistivity; Calculation models; Room acoustics; Scattering}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{14}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Applied Sciences (Switzerland)}},
  title        = {{An energy model for the calculation of room acoustic parameters in rectangular rooms with absorbent ceilings}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app11146607}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/app11146607}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}