Acoustic Instrumentation and Measurements

April 2015, Argentina

ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT MEASUREMENT

AUGUSTO BONELLI TORO1 NAHUEL CACAVELOS1
1

Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

abonellitoro@gmail.com
fnahuelc@gmail.com

Abstract - In the present work, fiberglass panel arrangement absorption is measured according to the reverberation
chamber method. The P500 with black veil and the Acoustic Panel P are combined to quantize their absorption
according to ISO 354.

1.

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Reverberant Chamber

The reverberation chamber must create a diffuse
sound field; this means that the energy of the field
will be distributed at all points. To achieve this goal,
they should wear reflective surfaces and diffusers
with high reflectivity and low absorption coefficient
to disperse energy but not absorb it. [1]
Possible uses of the reverberation chamber:
Measurement of absorbent material
properties through reverberation method.
Measurements under the method of Kath
& Kuhl.
Measurements of the diffusion coefficient.
Measurements of acoustic power source in
reverberation chamber.
Transmission Loss measurements walls.

(1)

Where Q is the Directivity Coefficient and R is

equal to:
(2)
Si = individual surface area in the room.
i= absorption coefficient for individual surface in
the room.
m= mean absorption coefficient of the room.

In the ISO 354 Standard, the volume of the

chamber should be at least 150 m3, but is
recommended higher than 200. The room should not
be parallelepiped.
To decrease the influence on low frequency
modal response it is recommended that there should
not be two dimensions that are integer ratio numbers.
1.2 Critical Distance
When the listener moves away from a sound
source, in non-anechoic conditions, one will
gradually leave the domain of the direct field and
enter that of the reverberant field. The point where
the two sound fields are equal is known as the critical
distance, beyond which the level of the sound will
soon tend not to reduce any farther as one move away
from the source. The result is that the critical distance
will be frequency dependent and so the effect of
moving away from the source will not be perceived
equally at all frequencies.[2,3]
The critical distance equation:

Figure 1: Critical Distance plot.

1.3 Modal Density

In the most of cases, the distribution of the energy
and variation with frequency of a sound field in an
enclosure is difficult to determine with precision.
Average quantities are often sufficient and
procedures have been developed for determining
these quantities. In the low-frequency range, an
enclosure sound field is dominated by standing waves
at certain characteristic frequencies. Large spatial
variations in the reverberant field are observed if the
enclosure is excited with pure tone sound, and the
1

sound field in the enclosure is said to be dominated

by resonant or modal response. [4,5]
This equation defines where are placed the nodes
and the peaks of pressure at a certain frequency:

( )

( )

( )

(3)

Also, it can be estimated the number of modes at

a certain frequency:

( )

( )

(4)

The modal analysis becomes very complicated

and difficult to model with increasing frequency. At
high frequencies, there is an overlapping between the
peaks and the nodes, and the pressure level almost
equal in all space (field tends to be diffuse).
There is a limit on the use of the model defined by
the frequency of Schroeder:

(5)

1.4 Noise Criteria

The Noise Criteria (NC) is the original standard
suggested by Beranek in the 1950s.
The NC curves (extended from67Hz to 8000Hz)
are defined from sound pressure level over eight
octave band center frequencies. The measured
spectral noise level is then compared to these curves
and the NC value is obtained (the measured noise
curve will fall between some of the NC curves).
1.5 Absorption Principles
When sound propagates in small spaces, as in the
case of the pores of a given material, energy is lost.
This is mainly due to viscous boundary layer effects.
Sound dissipated via friction on the porous walls,
because it is a viscous fluid. Another important
material loss will be because of losses due to thermal
conduction from the air to the absorbent material.
This is most significant at low frequencies. It is
important to note that to be effective absorption, air
paths must be interconnected through the material, so
it is imperative a porous structure.[6]
Losses due to vibrations of the material are
usually less important than the absorption coefficients
for two porous absorbers illustrating the effect of
material thickness.
If its wanted that the porous absorbent generate a
significant absorption, it must be placed where the
particle velocity is high. Particle velocity at the
boundary of the room is zero, thus there is no sense in

placing there. A quarter of the wavelength absorbs all

the incident sound, but a tenth of the wavelength also
cause significant absorption.
In turn, if the porous absorbers are used in
conjunction with resonant absorbers, passive
absorption generates a wider bandwidth of
absorption.
Within rooms, porous absorbers are often finished
by cloth wrapping to protect the absorbent material
and make it look better. The cloth wrapping
potentially has little effect on the absorption obtained.
Care must be taken to ensure the high frequency
absorption is not reduced because the glue prevents
sound entering the porous material.
The sound absorption coefficient of a plane
absorber or a specified array of test objects shall be
calculated with:
(6)
where is the equivalent sound absorption area of
the test specimen, in square meters and S is the area,
also in square meters.
1.6 Reverberation Chamber Method
In the most of applications, the incident sound
will be random incident in the absorptive material at
once. Its not efficient to measure the different angles
of the absorption coefficients in free filed and then
reconstruct the samples to get a random incidence
absorption coefficient.
The random incidence absorption coefficient is
implemented for room design, but is not very useful
for those who want to validate their prediction
models.
For this method big samples are required (10-12
m2), and a specially designed room, a reverberant
chamber, to get an accurate measurement.
The method measure the reverberation time
before and after the sample is introduced. By
knowing these two values, its possible to get the
random absorption coefficient. Its very necessary to
get a diffuse field.
The source is usually positioned in one of the
corners of the room, pointing to a corner, since this is
the condition in which the modes of the room
are full excited and the amount of direct sound is
reduced from the loudspeaker to the sample of test.
The reverberation time before the sample is
introduced:
(7)
Where V is the room volume, c the speed of light
0 the average absorption coefficient of the empty
room, and S the surface area of the room.m1 is for air
absorption in the room.
The reverberation time after the sample is
introduced:
2

(8)

where Sss the absorption coefficient of the sample.

To get an accurate measurement, it is necessary to
have a big difference between T 0 and T1.
The sample will be always affected due to edge
effects. The sound is diffracted around the axes of the
sample which causes an increase in absorption. That
is why the edges of the sample are covered to reduce
these effects. Given this fact, sometimes absorption
coefficients are higher than 1.
If it is assumed that the material is attached to a
wall, so that force to the air particles near the wall
being with almost null velocity, increasing gradually
as a we move away from the wall, but being almost
null nearby it. As the speed of the sounds is so low
within the absorbent material, the friction with the
material particles is minimal, producing a minimum
transformation in heat energetic.

where T is the Reverberation Time measured, f is the

center frequency of the third octave band and N is the
number of measurements made for that reverberation
time.
1.7 Edge effect absorption
In cases where the absorption footprint is larger
than the area of the specimen, the sound absorption
coefficient is greater than 1.00. This is named the
edge effect or diffraction effect because it results
from wave diffraction at the edges of the specimen.
The effect increases with decreasing frequency, by
reducing the sample size by increasing the aspect
ratio, and to increase the absorption coefficient.
The absorption of a finite sample is described by

1.6.1 Experimental error of the method

Taking the standard deviations of reverberation
times T0 and T1 can be calculated randomized
experimental error. Standard deviations are calculated
for a series of reverberation times obtained for all the
different source positions and microphones. If the
standard deviations of the reverberation time T 0is ,
then the confidence limit of 95 percent is given by:

(12)

(13)
where
is the absorption of an infinite sample and
is a factor as can be seen in Fig. 2:

(9)

where n is the number of source and receiver parts.

The accuracy of the empty room average absorption
coefficient is given by:

(10)

where the effect of inaccurate estimation of air

absorption has been assumed to be smaller than the
effect of reverberation time variation between
measurement positions.

) (11)

While a good repeatability in a laboratory can be

achieved, there are often problems of reproducibility
between different laboratories.
The method of reverberation chamber can also be
used to measure single objects.

Figure 2:
studies

factor from experimental and theoretical

In the equation of the absorption of a finite

sample, the E is the relative edge length defined
by:
(14)

1.6.2 Repeatability
The repeatability of the RT measurements are
calculated as shown in next equation

where

is the wavelength.
3

The density of this material is

1.8 Log Sine Sweep

The log sine sweep (LSS) consists of an
excitation
signal
whose
frequency
varies
exponentially between 1 and 2. The advantage of
this sine sweep is that it has longer duration of low
frequency tones than a linear sine sweep. [7, 8]
The MLS sequences depend heavily on the
assumption that the system is LTI. The technique of
sine sweep largely resolves this limitation.
There is a single excitation frequency for each
time t, then it is possible to apply a deconvolution
to the linear response of the system, and the response
of each distortion products. Harmonic distortion
appears temporarily pre- linear impulse response.
The equation of the LSS:

This is a common fiberglass panel which has the

same sizes as the P500. This panel is coated on one
side with black glass veil. This panel is a good choice
for coating an enclosure.

1,20
m
1,20
m

)]

(15)

where is the lowest frequency, is the last highest

and T is the duration of the LSS.
The implementation of the linear convolution
avoids the temporal aliasing problems, even if the
time window analysis had the same length than the
sweep. In that case, information will be lost, but it the
processing wont add spurious signals.
In practice a silence is added to the end of the
sweep, to retrieve a tail of the IR.
Since one frequency at a time is excited, the
Signal to Noise ratio (SNR) is greatly improved.
2

2.2 Acustiver P VN

Figure 3: Both panels dimensions

The density of this material is

TEST SAMPLES

The test specimen to be used is a combination of

two different types of fiberglass wool. The objective
of this arrangement is to improve the absorption
acoustic characteristics for low frequency.
An important factor to consider when choosing
absorbent material is its thickness, as absorption
depends of it, may be higher or lower for certain
frequencies.
The maximum absorption values will being in
frequencies where the thickness is equal to /4 or an
odd multiple of /4.
2.1 Isover Acustiver P500
The Acustiver P500 is a fiberglass panel. The
panel dimensions are shown in Table 1:
Sizes
Thickness

50mm

Length

1.2m

Height

1m

Table 1: Acustiver P500 proportions

Figure 4: Fiberglass panels arrangements

2.3 Design of acoustic absorbent

In order to achieve the absorption of low
frequencies both materials were used in the test.
The application of the specimen is projected to be
installed in the control of a home studio. The room
has large reverberation times and small proportion.
This way, is needed to get high absorption in a wide
range of frequencies. Each proposed material has 50
mm of thickness reaching the low frequency of
theoretical high absorption over 1750 Hz. Because
this material has a high absorption coefficient, is not
needed to get maximum of velocity to get high
absorption.
In this way, it is possible to observe in a table
provided acoustic test developed by the Laboratory of
Acoustics and Lighting of the Commission for
4

Scientific Research in Buenos Aires P500 material,

that it has good conditions for absorbing frequencies
greater than 160 Hz. [9]

Laptop
Absorbent

3.2 Characterization of the Room

The dimensions of the room for measurements are
6:5.2:3 meters giving a 93.6 m3 room volume and a
129.6 m2 of total surface. The walls of the room are
made of plasterboard and the floor of tiles.
To accomplish the characterization of the room,
the Reverberation Time of the room was obtained
with a LSS at four different points in the room with
three different positions of the source in order to get
different frequency responses of the room. Then, the
Critical Distance was estimated, according to eq. (1).
The result was:

Figure 5: Absorption coefficient of P500

As a solution it is proposed to double the material

thickness for greater absorption frequencies below
160Hz ideally making greater absorption to 80 Hz.
Another factor taken into account was the difference
in density of each panel. In this case Acustiver P
panels they were used with black veil 35 kg / m3 on
the outside and P500 50kg / m3 against the wall ,
both 50mm thick.
This panel was designed with the objective to
obtain higher rate of absorption to vary the density of
materials. This way, the impedance of the room will
be better, helping to the incidence of the sound wave
within the material having a low density in at the
beginning of the material and increasing it as going
deeper, increasing in that way also the absorption.
3

RT (s)
1.99
2.05
2.69
2.61
2.79
2.59
2.53
2.78
2.64
2.58
2.63
2.63
2.77
2.65
2.47
2.32
2.11
2.08

r (m)
0.57
0.56
0.49
0.50
0.48
0.50
0.50
0.48
0.49
0.50
0.49
0.49
0.48
0.49
0.51
0.53
0.56
0.56

Table 2: Reverberation Time and Critical Distance in

octave bands

PROCEDURE

3.1 Equipment

Frequency
100
125
160
200
250
316
400
500
630
800
1000
1250
1600
2000
2500
3200
4000
5000

Figure 6: Reverberation Time of the room

Tascam US1641
4 Earthworks M-50
Outline Omnidirectional Source
Sound Level Meter SVANTEK 959
5

3.4 Measurement
3.4.1 Signal to Noise Ratio
The measurement took place in an UNTREF
classroom used as a Reverberation Chamber for
academic purposes.
The background noise level was measured as can
be seen in the Noise Criteria. Then, the signal level in
the room was calculated to know if the Signal to
Noise Ratio (SNR) was correct.

Figure 7: Critical Distance of the room

The estimation of the critical distance is an

important factor to take into account when doing a
measure in a room, because its the distance at which
the direct sound and the reverberant sound are equal
when dealing with a directional source. Then, the
estimation of the critical distance is a parameter that
indicates where to place the microphone during the
measure to get a good relation between the direct
sound and the reflections.
3.3 Noise Criteria
The background noise was measured in octave
bands and then compared with the NC chart. The NC
Criteria found was NC55 as shown in the Figure.

Figure 9: Signal to Noise Ratio measured with the

sonometer

As can be seen, the Signal in low frequencies is

very low giving a negative Signal to Noise Ratio
when measuring with the sonometer. The reason is
because the LSS of 45 seconds of duration was
implemented between 80 Hz and 10 kHz. The reason
of this choice is because the frequency range to
satisfy the ISO 354 is between 100 Hz and 5 kHz.

Figure 8: Noise Criteria

This measurement aims to set the sound sources

level above the noise level below.
This background noise level was found before
starting the measurement. The background noise
level after the measurement was almost the same
except for frequencies below 1 kHz. Those frequency
bands were 10 dB below than the first measurement.

Figure 10: Signal to noise ratio of the impulse response

When we analyze the impulse response given by the

LSS and its inverse filter, the SNR improved
appreciably, complying with the proposed regulations
3.4.2 Position of the microphones and source
Four microphones were placed in a fix position
and one omnidirectional source was placed in three
different points of the room, according to ISO 354. In
6

fig. 11 can be seen the places of each one of the

microphones and source positions.

Figure 13: Second arrangement of the sample under test

For the third arrangement, two pairs of panels

together were placed in each part of the room.

Figure 11: Microphones (blue) and source (red)

position

3.4.3 Test Sample positioning

The sample under test was placed with three
different arrangements. At this point, it wasnt
possible to fully meet the standard conditions due to
room dimensions.
Four pairs of fiberglass wool panels were placed in
the center of the room for the first arrangement.

Figure 14: Third arrangement of the sample under test

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Measurements uncertainties

The room employed to make the measurement
didnt comply with the regulations of a reverberant
chamber, therefore, either the samples used didnt
had the necessary sizes.
One of the uncertainties in this measurement is
the Standard deviation of the reverberation time T20.

Figure 12: First arrangement of the sample under test

As can be seen in the picture, the microphones and

the sample test are very close, so the solution was to
place the microphones at a greater height to respect
the standard as possible.
For the second arrangement, the four pairs were
placed in different parts of the room.
Figure 15: Repeatability of the measurement

Temperature values and barometric pressure couldnt

be determined due of a lack of proper
instrumentation. Therefore, these parameters were
not registered during the different measurements. As
a solution, the values were taken from the national
meteorological service. Therefore, the variations of
7

these parameters were not registered during the

different measurements.
4.2 Data Processing and Analysis
The data was recorded using Adobe Audition with
16 bits resolution and 44100 Hz of sample rate. All
the audio files recorded were processed with Adobe
Audition Aurora software to get the impulse response
of the signal. In order to get the Reverberation Time
data in third octave bands, a Matlab algorithm was
implemented.
The power attenuation coefficient defined by ISO
354 is not considered because climatic conditions
were not changed during the whole measurement.
The average reverberation times of the room with
and without the samples are shown in fig. 10:

Figure 18: Octave Band Filter

Then, each of the filtered signals by third octave is

analyzed with RT calculation program with the
method of Schroeder Integral. This makes a least
square fitting averaging by analyzing the region EDT
[-5 to -35] dB.

Figure 16: Reverberation times of the room with and

without the samples

Then, the absorption coefficient for the three

arrangements of the test samples was calculated.

Figure 19: Schroeder method plot

Then all the results of each measurement RT are

averaged together to each octave band , thus
obtaining the average RT .
4.4 Edge effect absorption
The edge effect absorption was calculated with
the Ten Wolde correction

Figure 17: Absorption coefficient of the test sample.

4.3 Reverberation Time Computation

Given the large number of measurements and
subsequent analysis, MATLAB software was used
for the Reverberation Time to make the analysis and
subsequent averaging of the different measurements.
Each impulse response in time is filtered using a
FIR filter designed for specifics functions of the
program for this purpose. Thus, every third octave is
used in a manner that a filter order of 6 is obtained.

Figure 20: factor for Ten Wolde correction

Figure 21: Absorption coefficient with Ten Wolde

which spoils the porous material properties under

protect the same detachment, and moisture.
The results given are consistent with expectations
and demonstrate its usefulness for the intended use.
The acoustic treatment must be reinforced for low
frequency range where the absorption coefficient of
the material is low and may not get to decrease to a
certain range the reverberation time of the room.
Thus it is proposed to contemplate the use of reactive
absorbent as membrane resonators at frequencies
where the room presents specific problems. It is
important that the bandwidth of this absorbent is
large since the use of such absorbent is not effective
for a very narrow bandwidth

4.5 Modal density of the room

In order to evaluate the modal density of the room, it
can be performed simultaneous measurements in
different parts of the room measuring the modal
response of the room. To accomplish this task, it
should be noted the deviations in amplitude relative
to the frequency of analysis. This can be globalized
by a factor that addresses this problem and then
standardized.
This will give us the proper spatial deviation of the
enclosure.
4.6 Measuring a corner absorber
The standard implemented does not contemplate
measuring absorbent corner, so it is necessary to
specify that if it is measured conventionally in it, it
will present greater absorption surface, but will also
be more absorbent to not be located at the corner
where two reflective hard surfaces, so that the
velocity of the sound will be slightly higher.
On the other hand, the evaluation of the material
would not represent the actual absorption in situ , so
it is proposed to make other measurement besides the
one specified in the standard, one with the sample
located in the position where it will be used, and by a
calculation include positioning parameter covered by
that change .
Another possible method is to place two reflective
surfaces in the two of the faces of the sample, with
the aim of simulating the wall, although this will lead
to edge effects. These reflective surfaces should be
added in the calculation of the total surfaces of the
room.
5

CONCLUSION

It must be noticed the increase of its absorbent

qualities for low frequencies compared to P500
material. This is given mainly to the use of the
proposed compound which doubles its thickness,
reaching to cover the spectrum at low frequencies.
On the other hand, a decrease is observed in the
quality of sound absorber for high frequencies, this is
due to the implementation of the black veil cover
9

REFERENCES

[1] International Standard ISO 354, Acoustics Measurement of sound absorption in a reverberation room,
2003.
[2] Domingo R Acstica Medioambiental Vol.1. ECU. Spain.
[3]http://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/Demos/Burns_PhD_animations/Burns_PhD_anim.html
[4] Bies D, Hansen C Engineering Noise Control. Spon Press. USA. 2009.
[5] Long M. Architectural Acoustics. Elservier Academic Press. USA. 2006
[6] Cox T., DAntonio P. Acoustics absorbers and diffusers. Taylor & Francis. USA. 2009.
[7] Farina A.Simultaneous measurement of impulse response and distortion with a swept-sine technique.AES
Convention Paper. 2000
[8] Farina A. Advancements in impulse response measurements by sine sweeps. AES Convention Paper. 2007
[9]http://www.isover.com.ar/serdoc/12130726164238Medicion%20AbsorcionAcustiver%20P%20esp%2050%2070%20y%20100.pdf

10

Appendix A
ISO 354 Summary
Average reverberation time of the room is measured with and without the specimen. These reverb times of the
absorption area of the specimen is calculated using the Sabine equation.
Frequency range: 100 Hz 5kHz
Room Volume
The room volume must be above 150 m3, but is recommended to be greater than 200 m3.
When measuring in a room with a volume of 500 m3 or greater, it must be taken into account the air absorption,
because this is going to change the absorption at high frequencies
Absorption Area
The equivalent absorption area of an empty room must not be above the following values:

Frequency (Hz)
Equivalent sound
absorption area, m2

100

125

160

200

250

315

400

500

630

6.5

6.5

6.5

6.5

6.5

6.5

6.5

6.5

6.5

Frequency (Hz)
Equivalent sound
absorption area, m2

800

1000

1250

1600

2000

2500

3150

4000

5000

6.5

7.5

9.5

10.5

12

13

14

Table 1: Maximum equivalent sound absorption areas for room volume V = 200 m

If the volume is not equal to 200 m3, the given values in the table must be multiplied by a (

) factor.

Test Specimen
The test specimen must have an 10m2 to 12m2. If the room volume is greater the superior limit of the sample
must be increased with the (

) factor.

The chosen area depends on the room volume and the absorption of the specimen. If the room is bigger, the test
specimen must be greater too. For specimens with a low absorption coefficient, the upper area limit should be
chosen.
As to the proportions of the sample, the ratio L/W must be between 0.7 and 1.
It should be placed so that it is spaced from the walls at 1m distance to any wall of the room. If you are a heavy
specimen can be mounted vertically on the walls of the room and resting on the floor.
Temperature and humidity
Changes in temperature and humidity during measurement can have a significant effect on the measured
reverberation time, especially at high frequencies and at relatively low humidity.
Measurements should be performed in an empty room with the specimen under conditions of temperature and
relative humidity are almost the same and the absorption of high frequencies in the air does not vary too much. The
relative humidity should be between 30 and 90 %.
The temperature should be 15 C throughout the test
Microphones
Polar pattern: Omnidirectional
The measurements must be in different microphone positions where:
The microphones must be at a distance of 1.5 m.
11

 The microphones must be at a distance of 2 m from the source.

The microphones must be at a distance of 1 m from any room surface and from the specimen
The reverberation time curves must not be combined
Source
Polar Pattern: Omnidirectional
It must be used positions at almost a distance of 3m
Number of measurements
The number of decay curves indepently measured must be almost 12. That is the number of microphones
positions by the number of positions of source.
The minimum number of microphone positions must be 3.
The minimum number of source positions must be 2.

12

Appendix B
Absorption Coefficient table
Frequency (Hz)
100
125

A
0,31
0,34

B
0,11
0,30

C
0,27
0,31

160

0,85

0,79

0,78

200
250
316
400
500
630
800
1000
1250
1600
2000
2500
3200
4000
5000

0,96
0,90
0,98
1,15
1,24
1,16
1,07
0,99
0,88
0,91
0,88
0,81
0,77
0,72
0,62

1,10
1,14
1,22
1,35
1,50
1,41
1,30
1,32
1,09
1,11
0,98
0,92
0,94
0,78
0,74

0,96
1,07
1,14
1,28
1,27
1,19
1,10
1,16
1,04
0,94
0,94
0,79
0,81
0,70
0,73

Table 1:Third octave band absorption coefficient for first

(A) second (B) and third (C) absorbent arrangements.

Frequency (Hz)
100
125

A
0,31
0,34

B
0,11
0,30

C
0,27
0,31

160
200
250
316
400
500
630
800
1000
1250
1600
2000
2500
3200
4000
5000

0,85
0,81
0,55
0,51
0,63
0,86
0,88
0,88
0,87
0,88
0,91
0,88
0,81
0,77
0,72
0,62

0,79
0,95
0,78
0,75
0,83
1,11
1,12
1,12
1,20
1,09
1,11
0,98
0,92
0,94
0,78
0,74

0,78
0,82
0,71
0,67
0,76
0,88
0,91
0,92
1,05
1,04
0,94
0,94
0,79
0,81
0,70
0,73

Table 1: Third octave band absorption coefficient for first (A)

second (B) and third (C) absorbent arrangements with Ten Wolde
corrections
13