Finite element sound field analysis on measurement of absorption coefficient in a reverberation room -Relationships between inclination of walls and measurement results-

The absorption coefficients in a reverberation room are most representative measure for evaluating absorption performance of architectural materials. However, it is well known that measurement results of the coefficient vary according to a room shape of the measurement and area of the specimen. Numerical analyses based on wave acoustics are effective tools to investigate these factors on absorption coefficient measurement in reverberation room. In this study, sound fields for the measurement of absorption coefficient in reverberation room are analyzed by time domain finite element method (TDFEM). This study shows effectiveness of the analysis for investigation on causes of variation in the measurement results and improvement methods of the measurement. First, some measurement sound fields for absorption coefficient in reverberation rooms the walls of which are incline or decline are analyzed by the TDFEM. Next, reverberation times in each sound fields are calculated from the results obtained by TDFEM and the absorption coefficients are evaluated from the reverberation time of the room with and without specimen. Finally, the relationships among room shape, degree of inclination of the wall, the sound absorption coefficient of the specimen, frequencies and the measurement absorption coefficient are investigated.