E l e c t r o n i c s and Communications i n J a p a n , P a r t 3, Vol. 7 2 , No.

1 2 , 1989
Translated from D e n s h i Joho T s u s h i n Gakkai R o n b u n s h i , Vol. 7 2 - A , No. 1, January 1989, pp. 1-11

Analysis of Sound Fields in Rooms Using

Bergeron's Method
Hidemaro Shimoda, Member I n s t i t u t e of Technology, Shimizu C o r p o r a t i o n , Tokyo, Japan 104 Norinobu Yoshida and I c h i r o F u k a i , Members F a c u l t y of E n g i n e e r i n g , Hokkaido U n i v e r s i t y , Sapporo, J a p a n 0 6 0

SUMMARY
A t t h e d e s i g n i n g s t a g e of an a u d i t o r i u m , e . g . , a c o n c e r t h a l l o r t h e a t e r , i t i s import a n t t o p r e d i c t i t s a c o u s t i c f i e l d v i a a comp u t e r . A c o n v e n t i o n a l p r e d i c t i o n method based on g e o m e t r i c a l a c o u s t i c t h e o r y g i v e s o n l y a macroview of t h e f i e l d , and an a d d i t i o n a l s c a l e model t e s t i s r e q u i r e d f o r a f u r t h e r i n v e s t i g a t i o n . To overcome t h i s probl e m , a l t h o u g h a technology t o t r e a t t h e sound f i e l d i n a room a s a wave f i e l d h a s been cons i d e r e d , t h e r e have been few examples of three-dimensional time-response s o l u t i o n of t h e sound f i e l d i n a room because of t h e d i f f i c u l t y of h a n d l i n g a wide a n a l y t i c a l r e g i o n , wide frequency band, and complex boundary c o n d i t i o n s . T h i s paper examines t h e j u s t i f i c a t i o n of a p p l i c a t i o n of B e r g e r o n ' s method t o a three-dimensional sound f i e l d i n a room. T h i s paper a l s o a n a l y z e s t h e correspondence between a three-dimensional e q u i v a l e n t - c i r c u i t r e p r e s e n t a t i o n and t h e sound f i e l d , and examines t h e fundamental n a t u r e of a f r e e sound f i e l d . Based on t h e r e s u l t s , a model of a simple r e c t a n g u l a r room was c o n s i d e r e d , and i t s s t e a d y - s t a t e sound p r e s s u r e d i s t r i b u t i o n (which i s a fundamental c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of t h e f i e l d ) and s i m u l a t i o n of r e v e r b e r a t i o n ( t r a n s i e n t phenomenon) w e r e examined. A l l t h e s u c c e s s f u l r e s u l t s show t h e u s e f u l n e s s of t h e proposed method.

much b e t t e r a c o u s t i c s ) i s r e q u i r e d . Theref o r e , a c o u s t i c scale-model experiments and computer s i m u l a t i o n s i n c r e a s e t h e i r import a n c e . The former i s a r e l i a b l e and e s t a b l i s h e d method f o r t h i s purpose, and i s used f o r d e s i g n of a l m o s t a l l major a u d i t o r i u m s . However, t h i s method h a s some d i s a d v a n t a g e s : a l a r g e model ( a t l e a s t one-tenth t h e a c t u a l s i z e ) ; complex c o n d i t i o n s f o r i t s s p e c i f i c a t i o n s ( e . g . , materials, sound-measurements i n c l u d i n g u l t r a s o n i c r a n g e , and sound medium); and c o n s i d e r a b l e t i m e and expense [l].
A computer s i m u l a t i o n i s a powerful a l t e r n a t i v e t o t h e scale-model experiment which r e q u i r e s t i m e , expense and e x p e r i m e n t a l t e c h nology. However, a t p r e s e n t , t h i s method app l i e d t o p r a c t i c a l d e s i g n i s based on geometr i c a l a c o u s t i c s [ 2 ] . T h i s method i s used v e r y w i d e l y because of e a s i n e s s of formulat i o n and h a n d l i n g , s i n c e a sound f i e l d i s t r e a t e d w i t h a macroview of g e o m e t r i c a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of i n c i d e n t and r e f l e c t e d sound r a y s [ 3 , 41. T h i s method i s l i m i t e d t o a low-frequency r a n g e s i n c e t h e wave p r o p e r t y of sound i s n e g l e c t e d . I n t h e c a s e where t h i s l i m i t a t i o n cannot b e a c c e p t e d , an a n a l y s i s i n which t h e approximated wave p r o p e r t y i s added [ 5 ] , and a method of g e o m e t r i c a l a c o u s t i c s i m u l a t i o n w i t h t h e wave-motion p r o p e r t y [ 6 ] have been proposed. However, t h e r e a r e l i m i t s t o improvements of geometric a l - a c o u s t i c methods, and a new method based on wave t h e o r y i s d e s i r e d .

1.

Introduction S e v e r a l a n a l y t i c a l methods of a soundwave f i e l d have been proposed: T e r a i ' s method [ 7 ] f o r m u l a t e s i t by u s i n g t h e K i r c h o f f Helmholtz i n t e g r a t i o n e q u a t i o n a s t h e bound a r y - i n t e g r a t i o n e q u a t i o n , and t h i s h a s been a p p l i e d t o c a l c u l a t e a t r a n s i e n t sound f i e l d . Some n u m e r i c a l - a n a l y t i c a l methods f o r a t h r e e d i m e n s i o n a l sound f i e l d have been proposed,

P r e d i c t i o n of a sound f i e l d i s i n d i s p e n s a b l e i n a c o u s t i c a l l y d e s i g n i n g a room such a s a c o n c e r t h a l l o r s t u d i o . With t h e r e c e n t p r o g r e s s of a c o u s t i c i n s t r u m e n t s and t h e i n c r e a s e of u s e r i n t e r e s t i n a c o u s t i c e f f e c t , t h e d e s i g n of rooms w i t h more p r e c i s e a.cau.st i c s p e c i f i c a t i o n s ( i . e . , a concert h a l l with

73

1SSN1042-0967/89/0012-0073$7.50/0 o 1990 S c r i p t a Technica, I n c .

(x, y, zt Ad)

(x,~,z+Ad/2)

1'

(x, y t Ad, z)

1
/%kd/2,
z)

has general applications such as an electromagnetic field and an elastic wave analysis [ l o , 111. The feature of this method is that a sound field is represented by a three-dimensional equivalent-circuit network consisting of one-dimensionally distributed-constant transmission lines and their nodes so that a phenomenon is analyzed successively on the circuit network. Analytical methods using an equivalent circuit have been examined [12], but that only is to introduce differential equations for a wave motion field, and, finally, a deference method is used for the analysis. By contrast, the proposed method deduces directly node-equations which represent the propagation characteristics of the equivalent network by using Bergeron's method with circuit constants which correspond to the sound field. Then the time and space characteristics of the whole system are obtained by solving the node equations. Calculations in this method consist of simple addition and subtraction which are suitable for recent supercomputers. A high-speed computation is very effective for a three-dimensional treatment of a sound field in a complex shape. This method can easily be formulated since it uses only two kinds of parameters (equivalent voltage and current) so that complex conditions of sound media (e.g., walls, flower, ceiling) and boundaries can easily be formulated. Reference [ 1 3 ] describes the application of Bergeron's method to a three-dimensional sound field in relation to a unified analysis of a sound field and an electroacoustic transducer. This paper describes features and justification of the three-dimensional equivalent circuit applied to the sound field in a room.

Fig. 1. Three-dimensional equivalent circuit for sound field. (a) Equivalent circuit and (b) coordinates definit ion.

i.e., the finite element method [ 8 ] , and the boundary element method [9]. Although treatment of a sound field as a wave field complicates the whole process, their importance and usefulness are increasing with the recent advance of high-speed and large-capacity computers. However, some of these numerical-analytical methods require a high-degree of mathematical process, and unsolved problems remain in treatment of the actual boundary conditions. This paper describes formulation of Bergeron's method analysis of the sound field in a room. Bergeron's method is a three-dimensional numerical analysis method which
74

Section 2 describes a three-dimensional equivalent-circuit network which represents a three-dimensional sound field. Section 3 describes a practical application of the method to the sound field in a room. Section 3.1 examines fundamental characteristics of a model of a cubic room. Section 3.2 describes time-response waveforms which can explain the acoustic nature of the cubic room, and section 3 . 3 gives a quantitative representation of reverberation time (which is an important design parameter) and its justification.
2.

Representation of Three-Dimensional Sound Field Using an Equivalent Circuit 2.1 Treatment of wave equations using cubic-lattice network

To represent a sound field using a three-dimensional lattice network, let us consider an equivalent circuit as shown in

Fig. l ( a ) . In this network, two adjacent grids are connected by a one-dimensional transmission line having a characteristic impedance and propagation time which correspond to a plane-sound wave field in air (no loss and no distortion). A resistance which corresponds to the medium condition is divided into two parts, and each part is connected to the two sides of the line. A concentrated conductance is connected in the central node; L , R, C and G are inductance, resistance, capacitance and conductance per unit length, respectively, Ad is the length of each line. The fundamental equation of a one-dimensional lossless line is represented by (la)

Equivalent circuit

Sound field Sound pressure Particle velocity u Density of medium

p

Voltage Current Inductance Capacitance

I
L

Reciprocal number of bulk modulus 1/3x Characteristic impedance (plane 3P x wave) Acoustic resistance

Characteristic impedance (one-dimensional line) 2 Resistance

R
G

Conductance where V and I are a voltage-wave and currentU

Acoustic conduc$713 tance

wave, respectively, and u is an arbitrary coordinate which is either x, y or 2 . By representing the voltage-drop along

R (loss in the medium, represented by two concentrated resistances at the two sides of the line) with a current at the center node (which is an average of the two values), Eqs. (la) and ( l b ) can be transformed into difference equations for the x-direction:
0

*
T
&Ad

-{

1 V(J:-Ad, 9, I , t ) - V ( X Y, , Z, t ) } Ad

Fig. 2.

One-dimensional Bergeron's expression.

Similar equations hold in the y and z directions, respectively. By representing the current at the central point with the value of current at the central node, and by rearranging (including addition and subtraction) them according to the conditions of current continuity, the following equation is obtained :

- 6 V ( x ,Y, z, t ) } = ( L za+ R ) - 3 G V ( x ,y,z, t )

+(Lc&+Rc-&{a

~ Y,2, t

Ad

1 -{ AdZ V ( x - A d , y, Z,t ) + V ( x + A d ,y, Z , t ) V ( Xy , - Ad, Z,t )+ V ( X y , +Ad, 2, t> + V ( S ,y, z-Ad, t ) + V ( Xy, , z+Ad, t )

+ v(x+-, Y y,z, t )+ v(x,y--,z, Ad 2

+ v( x,y+-, + v(I,y, Z
75 2
+

t
t

1
)

2, t
T

)+ v(x,y,

2 - 7

Ad

Ad

)I

This equation deduces to a wave-motion equation when Ad is reduced to being infinitely small. Then

+3RGV(x,y, z, t )

(4)

Table 1 shows the correspondence of circuit constants to parameters in the sound field; 1/(3x) and g / 3 in the table are derived by equally dividing l/x and g of the medium into three parts on each line of the cubic grid, and by forming the line-constants together with p and r . Therefore, by replacing some terms of Eq. ( 4 ) with parameters of the sound field and the medium constant, Eq. ( 4 ) becomes the following wave equation of sound pressure:

Fig. 3 .

Three-dimensional free soundfield model.

Similarly, the equation for the particle velocity can be deduced. Thus, a wave-motion field can be represented by taking increments of the equivalent circuit (shown in Fig. 1) adequately small. The node-equation in Bergeron's method at each time increment can be deduced by using the equation of current continuity at each node, when voltage, current, characteristic impedance of a line and propa) . The gation time are defined (as in Fig. 2 characteristic impedance of each line is

4 0 . 1
1

16

32

Distance ( X /Ad)
Fig. 4 . Comparison of steady-state sound-pressure distribution in threedimensional free-sound field model between computed (circles) an? derived theoretically.

z=m=*=Jzo
where Zo is the characteristic impedance of a plane wave. Similarly, the wave-propagation time At is given by

At= A d m = A d m = A t o / J

(6b)

where Po is the sound pressure at the source on an arbitrary node. Sound pressure P at a n distance nAd in a discrete grid is given by

where At is the propagation time of a plane 0 wave.

P, =Po/( nAd)=Pdn
2.2
Sound pressure distribution in three-dimensional free sound field

(8)

When a sound source is set on an arbitrary single node, this can be regarded as an ideal nondirectional point sound source. The intensity of the sound in a free field is reversely proportional to the square of the distance from the sound source, and unidirectional. Therefore a sound pressure is reversely proportional to the distance. Sound pressure P at a distance separated from the sound source by a short distance Ad is given by

where n is an arbitrary integer; i.e., a sound pressure at an arbitrary point on the grid i s determined by the reference sound pressure at the source P and n. Therefore, a sound pressure Pr at an arbitrary node (i, j , k ) is given by

r = J( i - iO)Z+ ( j - j o y +

( k - a)z

P i =Po/ Ad

(7)
76

where i , j and k are the numbers of a discrete point in the x, y and z directions, and j o and k are those of the sound source. io 3 0

Table 2. Data of cubic room

(which is on the bottom of the model, i.e.,

STCU plane), the horizontal axis is a normalized value of the distance from the source (using Ad), and the vertical axis is the normalized sound pressure (using the value at a point separated from the sound source by A d ) . The circles in Fig. 4 show calculated values, and the solid line shows theoretical values. The theoretical values are a logarithmic transformation of a reciprocal number of a distance which gives a theoretical sound pressure level in a free-sound field. This figure shows that the calculated sound pressure values almost follow the theoretical attenuation. Figure 5 shows distribution of sound pressure of an instantaneous value when the sound field reached a steady state, showing the propagation of the wavefront toward infinite distance with a concentric-circle pattern. These results justify applications of the proposed method to fundamental propagation characteristics of sound waves in a three-dimensional field.

Fig. 5. Instantaneous values of sinusoidal waves propagating in three-dimensional free sound-field model.

3.

Three-Dimensional Analysis of Sound Field in Room

3.1

Model to analyze

To confirm this, the distribution of a steady-state sound pressure in a free field caused by a point sound source shown in Fig. 3 was investigated. Considering a symmetry to the sound source, the actual analytical model was a cube having a volume of oneeighth the total volume. Consider that the sound source S is in the center of the central plane ABCD, and that a cube has a volume of one-eighth the total volume with the bottom plane of STCU. Then planes STCU, STOV and USVW are symmetry boundaries, and the remaining planes have free boundaries. The coordinates used are also shown in Fig. 3, where the origin is on the sound source. Matched impedances are used for free boundaries of the model (other boundary conditions are explained later in section 3 ) . The matched impedance for E q . (6a) does not always satisfy the matching conditions with a wave with an arbitrary incident at the finite boundary, since the matching impedance is for a plane wave with a normal incident angle. Therefore, a region surrounded by 35Ad is used for the analysis. To reduce the reflection of waves from the remaining nodes, conductances which increase exponential-lyup to the admittance (reciprocal number of field impedance) of a free boundary are connected, so that these act as a sound-wave absorber in the model [ 131. Figure 4 shows the distribution of steady-state sound pressures on the x-axis
77

To justify the proposed method, the stationary-wave characteristic of sound wave in a cubic room due to multiple reflections and its reverberation-time characteristic were simulated since these are fundamental acoustic characteristics of the room. Figure 7 shows Bergerons expression of the central plane (ABCD) in the cubic room shown in Fig. 6. The cubic room has dimensions of 50Ad x 50Ad x 50Ad (where A d is an interval of the space difference) and has no opening. The sound source is a point, and is situated in the center of a wall (ROEH plane). The origin of coordinates coincides with the sound source. The actual dimensions of the model are determined by the wavelength of sound and discrete-time A t . If the fundamental frequency f is 100 Hz, the discrete-number n per wavelength is 20, and the sound speed c is 340 m/s, then A d is determined by E q . (6b). Data of the room are obtained as shown in Table 2. It is possihle to limit the actual analysis region to a cuboid of one-fourth the room having a bottom plane of STCD, by considering a symmetry condition to the sound source. Therefore, the analysis region is the whole space surrounded by these symmetrical boundaries and boundaries of the ceiling. To represent an actual sound field in a room by the model, its walls, ceiling and floor must have specific acoustic conditions (sound-reflection and absorption). To nake the model simple, let us assume that all the walls, ceiling and floor have a uniform boundary conditions, so that a termination load-

3.2

Distribution characteristics of sound pressure in a room

- 50Ad
Fig. 6. Model of a cubic room for simulating acoustic behavior.

Unlike a free sound field such as in section 2.2, the distribution of a soundpressure in the model shown in Fig. 6 has clear peaks and dips due to stationary waves in a closed cubic room depending on the wavelength of an input wave. To confirm the space characteristic of the sound pressure distribution, an analysis of the model (described in the previous section) with a point sound-source of 100-Hz sinusoidal wave (wavelength 11.5 Ad) was carried out. A l l the boundaries of the room were assumed t o have an average sound-absorption coefficient of 0.2 uniformly. Plane STCD was used for the observation. Figure 8(a) shows the distribution of envelopes of instantaneous maximum sound-pressure at a steady state. Figure 8 (b) shows the same results but using contour lines of the sound pressure. These figures explain the positions of peaks and dips.

Tine= 350 ms

Fig. 7.

Bergerons expression for cubic room shown in Fig. 6.

resistance Rb is used in the equivalent circuit which gives a reflection condition. This value is given by

\a?
v

-0

Rb=mZ

(11)

4
0

where rn is the ratio of a stationary wave which gives the sound pressure reflection coefficient, and Z is the characteristic impedance of the sound field. A s a particular case, when rn = 1, this equation gives a matching condition which represents a free boundary. Figure 7 show a three-dimensional equivalent circuit of the pole ABCD (shown in Fig. 6 ) , using the foredescribed conditions and a voltage source Ei (equivalent to the point sound-source) with its impedance R and

.00
(x/Ad)

Average absorbing coefficent : Z = O . 2 Frequency : f = l O O Hz Distribution of maximum sound pressure (a ( b ) Contour of maximum sound pressure Fig. 8. Sound-pressure distribution at steady-state for sinusoidal waves in rectangular room. 78

line impedance Z.

SPL

DISTRIBUTION

Time=350ns

-__Theoretical
- c m p u Led

lic

= :

325

Average absorbing coefficient : 6 = 0 . 2 Frequency :f=lOO H z Room constant : Rc=325(ni')

Fig. 10. Bound-measuring points for reverberation time in rectangular-room model.

Fig. 9 . Comparison of sound-pressure distribution at steady state on x-axis between conputed and theoretical results. Theoretical values are calculated under assumption of diffused sound field.

4I

?I

(d)

P(26.14.1)

ATT:-23.4

(DB)

f
e

:?
o!oo

z -

'

m.00'

40.00'

clO.00

Average absorbing coefficient : [r ~ 0 . 2 Center frequency : fc = 100 Hz 1/3 oct. (a) : Incident waves
(b)

w . m' 1b.m n0.00 T l H E r I I S ) (Y.10' 1

i4o.w

1~0.00

1ao.00

m.00

-d
(

: Response waves

Fig. 11.

Time responses of sound pressures for tone-burst waves.

79

Time=

40 DS

(x/Ad)
Tine= 60 DS Tine= 250 BS

(x/Ad)
Time=

80 DS

Tine=

500 DS

0.00

Ib.00

i0.w '

n.w

4i.W

rbP60

(x/Ad)
Average absorbing coefficient a=0.2 Center frequency : fc=lOOHz Fig. 12. D i s t r i b u t i o n of i n s t a n t a n e o u s sound p r e s s u r e on STCD p l a n e due t o t o n e - b u r s t waves.

Conspicuous peaks on t h e c e n t r a l l i n e (xa x i s ) , w a l l (DCGH p l a n e ) and c o r n e r s of t h e room are o b s e r v e d . F i g u r e 9 shows t h e variat i o n of i n s t a n t a n e o u s maximum sound p r e s s u r e on t h e x - a x i s ( i . e . , d i s t a n c e decay) u s i n g a r e l a t i v e sound p r e s s u r e l e v e l . The s o l i d l i n e i n t h e f i g u r e shows t h e c a l c u l a t e d valu e s , and t h e d o t t e d l i n e shows t h e d i s t a n c e decay c u r v e when a d i f f u s e d s o u n d - f i e l d i s assumed w i t h a room c o n s t a n t of R = 325 .m2.

room surrounded by b o u n d a r i e s ( w a l l s , f l o o r and c e i l i n g ) w i t h a u n i f o r m sound-absorption c o e f f i c i e n t , and t h a t t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n of sound p r e s s u r e i s n o t u n i f o r m .

3.3

S i m u l a t i o n s of r e v e r b e r a t i o n

T h i s f i g u r e shows c l e a r l y p o s i t i o n s of peaks and d i p s ; n o t e a deep d i p near t h e center ( s l i g h t l y c l o s e d t o t h e sound s o u r c e ) . The a t t e n u a t i o n a t t h e d e e p e s t d i p i s a b o u t 40 dB, w h i l e t h a t a t a peak i s o n l y 20 dB, independ e n t l y of t h e d i s t a n c e from t h e sound s o u r c e . However, i t i s c e r t a i n t h a t t h e g e n e r a l p a t t e r n of t h e a t t e n u a t i o n i s v e r y d i f f e r e n t from t h a t i n a f r e e s o u n d - f i e l d , and t h a t t h e p a t t e r n i s within a reasonable range with t h e i n f l u e n c e of t h e room c o n s t a n t which i s d e t e r mined by t h e mean s o u n d - a b s o r p t i o n c o e f f i I t i s confirmed t h a t t h e proposed cient. method can w e l l s i m u l a t e a fundamental soundf i e l d c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of a c u b i c room; e . g . , t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n of sound p r e s s u r e i n a c u b i c

F i n a l l y , s i m u l a t i o n s of r e v e r b e r a t i o n , which i s a n i m p o r t a n t p h y s i c a l f a c t o r t o e v a l u a t e the sound f i e l d i n a room, a r e examined. The sound f i e l d a s shown i n F i g . 6 w i t h toneb u r s t waves ( i n p u t ) w a s u s e d f o r t h e model. The t o n e - b u r s t waves are g e n e r a t e d by applyi n g a Hamming window o v e r e v e r y s i x waves of s i n u s o i d a l waves s o t h a t t h i s forms a 113o c t a v e band w i t h a c e n t r a l f r e q u e n c y of 100 H z 1141. I t was assumed t h a t a l l t h e boundar i e s of t h e room ( w a l l s , f l o o r and c e i l i n g ) have a u n i f o r m sound-absorbing c o e f f i c i e n t a t e a c h t e s t c a s e . F i v e cases h a v i n g sound-abs o r b i n g c o e f f i c i e n t s of 0.10, 0.15, 0.20 and 0.30 w e r e t e s t e d . To r e p r e s e n t each v a l u e , l o a d r e s i s t a n c e a t t h e model b o u n d a r i e s w a s chosen.

80

Tine= 2ooo
0

+
h

-0

t 2v) =r

la

XI?

2%
0
0

M 0

-0 C

d-

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

v)

(x/Ad)
Average absorbing coefficient : ii=O.2 Center frequency : .L = 100 I l z Fig. 13. Distribution of sound-pressure on STCD plane due to tone-burstwaves. Figure 1 0 shows the observation positions ( 9 points) on the plane ABCD of the model. Figure 11 shows time-responses of sound pressure at several points with an average-absorbing coefficient of 0.2. The scale of waveforms in Fig. 11 is normalized using the instantaneous maximum sound pressure. The difference of relative sound-pressure between the maximum sound pressure at each point and the maximum instantaneous sound pressure is shown beside each waveform, taking 0 dB at the sound source. Figure 11 (a) shows the incident waves, and Figs. ll(b), (c) and (d) show response waves. Each waveform shows clearly that this is the result of the direct wave from the sound source and many reflected waves from the walls, floor and ceiling. Notably, Figs. ll(a) and (c), which are the response waveforms at a peak and dip of a standing wave on the central line of the room, respectively, show clearly the difference in concentration of energy. Figures ll(c) and (d) show flatter echos. Figure 12 shows distributions of instantaneous sound pressure on the central plane (STCD) of the room due to the tone-burst waves. These illustrate well the decay of waves with propagation and reflections. It takes about 500 ms to complete decay of the reflected waves. Figure 13 shows contour lines of the sound pressure (maximum values) on the STCD plane after 2 s. This shows a mode of standing waves which is a characteristic of a rectangular room, although there are some differences in patterns compared with the same kind o f illustration [Fig. 8 ( a ) ] for the stationary sinusoidal waves. The reverberation time is usually measured by radiating a white noise having a bandwidth of 1-octave or 113-octave in a sound field, and by stopping it when the soundfield reached a steady state. An average value of results obtained by multiple measurements (order of tens) are employed usually for a reverberation time, since each result
81

w *

t 29
0

Lo 0 , -

910.00

LOG OF POUER

: P(26.14.1)

lO.00

LOG OF R T E N R G Y :

P(26.14.1)

-8

%& --

i
- 0

,:0
0

0.00

40.00

80.00

120.00

160.00

10.00

TIME (?IS)
(a)

(X10'

(b) (c)

Squared sound pressure. Logarithm transformation(resett i m e : 5 ms) Reverberation decay curves (resolution: 2.5ms)

Fig. 14. Example of reverberation decay curve obtained by impulse integration method.

has some variation due to the fluctuation of a sound source. Schroeder [15] proposed a method (known as "the integrated impulse method" [16]) in which an ensemble-average of

r i t h m i c compression t o t h e r e v e r b e r a t i o n decay c u r v e R (t) which i s g i v e n by Eq. ( 1 3 ) ,

9
( D D

'O1.0O

'

40.00

80.00

120.00

160.00

10.00

T I M E (MS)

(XIO'

I
I I I

T I

0.00

40.00

80.00

120.00

160.00

10.00

T I M E (flS)

(XIO1

Fig. 15. Examples of c u r v a t u r e r e v e r beration-decay c u r v e s observed.

r e v e r b e r a t i o n c u r v e i s obtainel from impulse responses. The ensemble-average of s q u a r e of sound p r e s s u r e i s g i v e n by

< S2( t )>=N/%(

t )dt

(12)

where S ( t ) i s t h e sound p r e s s u r e a t a measuri n g p o i n t , h ( t ) i s t h e impulse r e s p o n s e between t h e sound s o u r c e and t h e measuring p o i n t i n c l u d i n g a microphone, loudspeaker and f i l t e r s , and N i s t h e power of w h i t e n o i s e per u n i t bandwidth. By modifying Eq. (12), and by n o r m a l i z i n g i t w i t h t h e t o t a l e n e r g y , t h e ensemble-average of s q u a r e of sound p r e s s u r e i s g i v e n by

and by approximating i t by a s t r a i g h t l i n e w i t h t h e l e a s t - s q u a r e s method. S i n c e t h e r e v e r b e r a t i o n - d e c a y c u r v e o b t a i n e d from a toneb u r s t r e s p o n s e becomes an ensemble-average of r e v e r b e r a t i o n - d e c a y c u r v e o b t a i n e d from t h e w h i t e n o i s e i n t h e same bandwidth assuming t h a t t h e sound f i e l d i s l i n e a r . T h e r e f o r e , t h e r e v e r b e r a t i o n t i m e can b e determined a s a band-limited one which i s o b t a i n e d by c a l c u l a t i n g t h e p r e v i o u s l y o b t a i n e d time-response waveform. A r e v e r b e r a t i o n t i m e u s u a l l y i s d e f i n e d by approximating a decay c u r v e of -5 t o -35 dB w i t h a s t r a i g h t l i n e . However, i n t h i s experiment, a decay c u r v e of -10 t o -60 dB was used f o r t h i s purpose, s i n c e an adeq u a t e l y wide dynamic range i s o b t a i n e d . Figu r e s 1 4 ( a ) t o ( c ) show t h e r e s u l t s of c a l c u l a t i o n of t h e r e s p o n s e waveform [shown i n F i g . l l ( d ) ] a t p o s i t i o n s P (26, 14, 1 i n F i g . 1 0 ) . F i g u r e 1 4 ( a ) shows t h e squared sound p r e s s u r e , F i g . 14(b) shows i t s l o g a r i t h m t r a n s f o r m a t i o n , and F i g . 1 4 ( c ) shows t h e reverberation-decay curve. A r i s e t i m e of l O A t (5.0 ms) was used f o r t h e l o g a r i t h m t r a n s f o r m a t i o n , and an i n The r e s p o n s e wavet e g r a t i o n i s 5At ( 2 . 5 ms). form shown i n F i g . l l ( d ) i n d i c a t e s an echo, and t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n of i t s energy can b e confirmed i n Fig. 1 4 ( a ) . The l o g a r i t h m t r a n s f o r mation shown i n F i g . 14(b) i n d i c a t e s t h e energy decays down t o -70 dB, confirming an adequate dynamic r a n g e . The r e v e r h e r a t i o n decay c u r v e shown i n F i g . 1 4 ( c ) i s almost s t r a i g h t e x c e p t f o r an i n f l e c t i o n p o i n t n e a r 2000 ms. T h i s i s due t o a d i r e c t e f f e c t of t h e r e s o l u t i o n of t h e i n t e g r a t i o n which i s t r u n c a t e d w i t h t h e f i n i t e t i m e . I n t h i s example, an a d e q u a t e decay c u r v e can be obt a i n e d w i t h t h i s o r d e r of i n t e g r a t i o n r e s o l u t i o n . F i g u r e 15 shows examples of r e v e r b e r a tion-decay c u r v e s which have obvious bends: a bend around 40 ms i n F i g . 1 5 ( a ) , and a bend i n t h e whole shape i n F i g . 1 5 ( b ) . The wave t h e o r y [ 1 7 , 181 s u g g e s t s : assuming t h e a x i a l waves (one-dimensional wave), t a n g e n t i a l waves (two-dimensional wave), and o b l i q u e (three-dimensional wave) i n a r e c t a n g u l a r room, i t s r e v e r b e r a t i o n - d e c a y waveform i s a f f e c t e d by t h e s e waves i n d i f f e r e n t ways s o t h a t t h e c u r v e i s n o t s t r a i g h t . The examples shown i n F i g . 15 confirm t h i s t h e o r y . T a b l e 3 shows comparison of t h e r e v e r b e r a t i o n t i m e s o b t a i n e d by t h e s i m u l a t i o n and t h o s e o b t a i n e d by E y r i n g ' s formula [ 1 9 ] . The f i g u r e s i n t h i s t a b l e a r e o b t a i n e d from an a r i t h m e t i c a v e r a g i n g of a l l t h e r e s u l t s obt a i n e d a t n i n e p o i n t s shown i n F i g . 10. Eyri n g ' s formula cannot b e compared d i r e c t l y w i t h t h i s s i m u l a t i o n i n which t h e l o a d resist a n c e r e p r e s e n t i n g an a v e r a g e sound-absorbing c o e f f i c i e n t i s used f o r a l l t h e model boundar i e s . The a i m of t h e comparison i s t o exami n e t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e r e v e r b e r a t i o n
82

T h e r e f o r e , t h e r e v e r b e r a t i o n t i m e can b e repr e s e n t e d q u a n t i t a t i v e l y by a p p l y i n g a loga-

time deduced by Eyring's formula and that of simulation using sound-absorbing i.n the model in the proposed method. The comparison shows that the reverberation times obtained by the proposed method are reasonable, and that the method will be useful for quantitative estimation of their values.
4.

Table 3. Comparison of reverberation time obtained by simulation and Eyring's formula

Abs. coef.
a

Eyring's

Computed (sec)

0.10

3.74

3.18

Conclusions
0.25
0.30

(1) The correspondence of a three-dimensional sound field to a three-dimensional equivalent-circuit consisting of one-dimensional transmission lines and nodes is described so that the base of the three-dimensional sound-field simulation using Bergeson's method is explained. The sound-decay law of reverse-proportion of the distance from a sound source in a free sound field is shown by using the proposed method. This confirms that the proposed method can simulate the fundamental property of a free soundfield .
( 2 ) Based on this result, a fundamental model of a three-dimensional sound field in a cubic room was constructed. The walls, floor and ceiling of the room were represented by pure resistance for the formulation. Time responses to a sinusoidal wave input and a tone-burst input were examined. The results show successfully the characteristics of sound field in a rectangular room, and justifies the proposed method including its boundary conditions.

1.37

1.10

0.99

the usefulness of the proposed method for the sound field in a room is confirmed. The proposed method is very useful to examine the properties of the sound field in a room which was difficult to analyze by analytical method based on wave theory. The successive calculation used in this method will increase its efficiency with the recent development of supercomputers. Further development of the method is under consideration including the comparison of this method with experimental results by taking account of the frequency-scattering characteristics of boundary conditions and medium conditions. Hence, the method can be applied more precisely to a wider range of room-acoustic problems.

( 3 ) To estimate a reverberation time quantitatively, the response waveform to a tone-burst wave was calculated using the integrated impulse method. The results were compared with similar results obtained by using the conventional method. The comparison shows that the proposed method can be applied to a quantitative estimation of acoustic properties such as a reverberation time, i.e.,

Acknowledgement. The authors wish to express their thanks to Assistant Prof. Yutaka Fujishima (Electrical Department, Tomakomai Technical College) for discussions on this work.

REFERENCES
1.

2.

3.

4.

Teruji Yamamoto. Examination of sound characteristics of rooms using acoustic models. NHK Technical Research, 25, 6, pp. 299-320 ( 1 9 7 3 ) . A. Krokstad, S. Strom and S. Sorsdal. Calculating the acoustical room response by the use of a ray tracing technique. J. Sound Vib., 8, 1, pp. 118-125 ( 1 9 6 8 ) . Yuko Ogawa and Tokashi Nishi. Acoustical design of a room using CAD. Research Data, Architectural Acoustics Committee of Acoust. SOC., Japan, AA 82-33 ( 1 9 8 2 ) . Tsugumasa Takamiya and Fukushi Kawakami. Possibility of use of computer for acoustical design of a room and problems, AA
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Kazuhiro Iida, Ydichi Ando and Jyun'ichi Maekawa. Characteristics of sound propagation over seats, and its application to simulation of the sound field in a room. Research Data, Architectural Acoustics Committee of Acoust. SOC., Japan, AA68-04 ( 1 9 8 6 ) . 6. K. Sekiguchi, S. Kimura and T. Sugiyama. Approximation of impulse response through computer simulation based on finite sound ray integration. J. Acoust. SOC., J ( E ) , 6, 2, pp. 103-115 ( 1 9 8 5 ) . 7 . T. Terai. On calculation of sound fields around three-dimensional objects by integral equation method. J . Sound Vib., 69, 1, pp. 71-100 ( 1 9 8 0 ) .
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A. Craggs. The use of simple threedimensional acoustic finite elements for determining the natural modes and frequencies of complex enclosures. J . Sound Vib., 23, 3 , pp. 331-339 (1972). Shin Kagami and Ichiro Fukai. Formulation of three-dimensional sound field using boundary element method. Trans. I.E.C.E., Japan, J70-A, 1, pp. 110-115 (1987). Norinobu Yoshida, Ichiro Fukai and Junich Fukuoka. Transient analysis of two-dimensional Maxwell equation using Bergeron's method. Trans. I.E.C.E., Japan, J62-B, 6 , pp. 511-518 (1979). Masahiro Sato, Norinobu Yoshida and Ichiro Fukai. Analysis of time-response of two-dimensional elastic body using Bergeron's method. Trans. I.E.C.E., Japan, J70-A, 11, pp. 1515-1523 (1987). Isao Nakamura. Discussion on elastic waves using equivalent circuit. Jour. of the Acoustical Society of Japan, 36, 4 , pp. 185-193 (1980). Akira Takagi, Norinobu Yoshida and Ichiro Fukai. Unified analysis of time14.

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response of a sound field including source system. Trans. I.E.C.E., Japan, J68-A, 7 , pp. 688-695 (1985). Tadashi Takise and Ken Matsudaira. Measuring apparatus in room acoustics using tone-burst from loudspeaker. Research Data, Architectural Acoustics Committee of Acoust. SOC., Japan, AA 7821 ( 1 9 7 8 ) . M. R. Schroeder. New method of measuring reverberation time. 3. Acoust. SOC. Am., 37, pp. 409-412 (1965). F. Fawakami, K. Niimi and K. Yamaguchi. A tool for room acoustic measurement. J. Audio Eng. SOC., 2, 1 0 , pp. 739-748 (Oct. 1981). P. M. Morse and R. Bolt. Sound waves in 6 , rooms. Reviews of Modern Physics, 1 2 , p. 111 (1944). Yoshimutsu Hirata. Analysis of sound field in a room taking account of lowdegree diffusion. Technical Report, I.E.C.E., Japan, EA70-12 (1970). Jyun'ichi Maekawa. Room Acoustics, p. 34, Kyoritsu Publ., Tokyo (1978).

AUTHORS (from left to right)

Hidemaro Shimoda graduated in 1972 from Electrical Department, Faculty of Ecgineering, Hokkaido University. He was employed by Shimizu Corporation in 1973, and engaged in oceanographic measurements at Oceanographic Department, Technical Research Laboratories, Shimizu Corporation. Since 1984, he has been engaged in research at Acoustic Group of the same laboratories on acoustic measurements, and numerical analysis of sound fields. Norinobu Yoshida graduated in 1965 from Electronic Department, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, and obtained a Master's degree from there in 1968. He then joined NEC the same year, where he worked on CAD in the Integrated-Circuit Department. He has a Dr. of Eng. degree. He was appointed Assistant (Electrical Department) on the Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University in 1969; Lecturer, in 1983; and Associate Professor, in 1984. He is engaged in research on numerical analysis of electromagnetic fields. Ichiro Fukai graduated in 1953 from Electrical Department, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, obtained a Master's degree from there in 1956, and has a Dr. of Eng. degree. After joining Technical Research Institute, Japanese Defense Agency, and Technical-Teachers Training College of Hokkaido University, he was appointed Professor of the Faculty of Engineering at Hokkaido University in 1977.

84