Acoustics

Christine Haira L. Cadiang

Carla Joy L. Baking
Dina A. Mercado
Jessa S. Santiago
Arlen C. Luanzon

Acoustics
Defined by American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) as a science of sound, including its production,
transmission and effects, including biological and
psychological effects.

Cause

Generating
Mechanism

Active wave
propagation

Reception

Effect

Acoustician
A scientist who works in the field of acoustics.

Acoustical Engineer
Someone working in the field of acoustic technology.

Audio Engineer
Concerned with the recording, manipulation, mixing and
reproduction of sound.

The word acoustic was derived from the Greek word

akoustikos meaning of hearing or for hearing or ready
to hear.

Ultrasonic
Refers to sound waves above the frequencies of audible
range (20,000 Hz above).

Infrasonic
Refers to sound waves below the frequencies of audible
sound range (20 Hz below).

Early Research in Acoustics

Pythagoras
He established mathematics in Greek culture during the
sixth century B.C., studied vibrating strings and musical
sounds.

Aristotle
Understood that there is actual motion of air and
apparently deduced that air is compressed.

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio

A Roman architect and engineer, wrote a treatise on the
acoustic properties of theaters including discussions of
interference, echoes, and reverberations. De Architektura.
The physical understanding of acoustical processes
advanced rapidly during and after the Scientific
Revolution.

Galileo Galilei and Marin Mersenne

Discovered the complete Laws of Vibrating Strings.

Isaac Newton
Derived the relationship for wave velocity in solids, a
cornerstone of Physical Acoustics.

Age of Enlightenment and Onwards

Herman von Helmholtz
Showed how the ear can separate out the various
components of a complex tone.

Lord Rayleigh
Combined the previous knowledge with his own copious
contributions to the field in his monumental work.
Theory of Sound (1877).

Sub-disciplines of Acoustics
Acoustic Signal Processing
Acoustic signal processing is the electronic manipulations
of signals.

Architectural Acoustics
Also known as building acoustics involves the scientific
understanding of how to achieve a good sound within a
building.

Aero Acoustics
It is the study of aerodynamic sounds generated when a
fluid flow interacts with a solid surface or with another
flow.

Bioacoustics
It is the study of the use of sound by animals such as
whales, dolphins, bats, etc.

Biomedical Acoustics
It is the study of the use of sound in medicine.

Environmental Noise
Study of the sound propagation in the human environment,
noise health effects and noise mitigation analysis.

Psychoacoustics
Study of subjective reactions of human beings to sound.

Physiological Acoustics
Study of the mechanical, electrical and biochemical
function of hearing in living organisms.

Physical Acoustics
Study of the detailed interaction of sound with materials
and fluids.

Speech Communication
Study of how speech is produced.

Structural Acoustics and Vibrations

Study of how sounds and mechanical structure interact.

Transduction
Study of how sound is generated and measured by loudspeakers,
microphones, sonar projectors, hydrophones and sensors.

Ultrasonic
Study of high frequency sound, beyond the range of human
hearing.
Musical Acoustics
Study of the physics of musical instruments.
Underwater Acoustics
Study of the propagation of sound in water.

Principles of Room Acoustics

and Design

Basic Principles of Room Acoustics

As a principle involves the study and analysis of direct and
reflected sound.
The main difference between indoor and outdoor sound
propagation is in the level of reflected sound.

Design Criteria
Design acoustics specializes in providing acoustical design
services to design professionals and other client
The design on any room should be based on its estimated
percentage of use for a particular function.

 Specular Reflection
The manner in which sound reflection depends on the
shape feature and material of the room boundary.
Diffusion
Sound can also reflect in a diffuse manner.
Echoes
Are reflections that can be heard distinctly and
separately from the early reflected and reverberant
sound.

 Flutter Echoes
Results when sound travels back and forth between two
parallel surfaces and is attenuated much more slowly
than reflections from other surfaces.
Focusing
The cardinal rules in the design in echoes is to avoid
sound reflectors that focus in the plain of listening.

 Reverberation
Is directly proportional to room volume, inversely
proportional to the surface area and inversely
proportional to the amount of sound absorbing
materials.
Standing Waves
Are also known as room modes.

Sound Absorptive Materials

and
Special Constructions

Sound Absorptive Materials

Reducing background noise is what our sound absorption
materials are meant to do. No matter if the sound is
coming from outside, or if youre the one whos making
it.

Noise Control

What Is Noise Control?

Noise control is the reduction in amplitude or the
attenuation of unwanted sound. We can divide noise
control into two general categories: reduction is the total
sound flowing away from a sound source, and
redirection of the flow of acoustic energy such as the
pressure in the directions of humans is reduced.

Fundamentals of Noise Control

Active and passive noise control are two approaches to a
common problem.
Active noise control aims to attenuate unwanted sound by
introducing electronically generated cancelling sound
field.
Passive noise control aims to attenuate unwanted sound by
modifying the characteristics in the environment in
which the sound source operates.

What is Passive and Active Noise Control?

Passive Noise control
It refers to noise control which results from modification in
the environment in which sound source operates. Passive
noise control probably accounts for 99,9999% (or more)
of all noise control currently practiced. It is often cheap,
simple and has a mix of common sense and the law of
Physics.

Active Noise Control

It is a noise control technique that aims to reduce sound
levels by cancelling the unwanted acoustic waves with a
second set of electronically generated acoustic waves of
equal amplitude.

Reduction of Airborne
And
Solid-borne Noise

Airborne Noise
Ultimately the sound which can spread only via the air.
This can be detected, at least by the human ear, from
20Hz-20,000Hz.

Solid-borne Noise
The sound which spread in solid body such as wall of
houses or pipes.

How to Reduce Airborne and Solid-borne

Noise?
Airborne Noise
Steel-stud Partition Walls

Wood-Stud Partition Walls

Wood Joist Floor-Ceiling System

 Solid-borne Noise
Wood Joist Floor-Ceiling System

Sound Flanking

END OF PRESENTATION
Thank you for listening.