Sound Absorption and Sound Power Measurements in Reverberation Chambers Using Energy Density Methods

• Main Author: Nutter, David B.
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2006
• Subjects: reverberation chamber; acoustic energy density; particle velocity; sound absorption; sound power; impulse response; standard deviation; ED; Astrophysics and Astronomy; Physics
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/771; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1770&context=etd

Measurements in a reverberation chamber use spatially averaged squared pressure to calculate sound absorption, sound power, and other sound measurements. While a reverberation chamber provides an approximation of a diffuse sound field, variations in the measurements introduce uncertainty in measurement results. Room qualification procedures require a sufficient number of source-receiver locations to obtain suitable measurements. The total acoustic energy density provides greater spatial uniformity than squared pressure, which requires fewer source-receiver positions to produce similar or better accuracy in measurement results. This paper explores the possibility of using energy density in place of squared pressure, using methods outlined in current ISO standards, by describing several experimental and analytical results.