Design and Construction of a Small Reverberation Chamber Applied to Absorption and Scattering Acoustic Measurements

Abstract

Reverberation chambers are used to create a diffuse incidence sound field, where multiple types of acoustic measurements can be performed. The chambers tend to have a large volume in order to extent the reverberation time. However, this requirement may be conditioned by the cost and the infrastructure limitations. This paper presents the design and construction of a small-scaled reverberation chamber of 3 m3 for middle-high frequency acoustic measurements. On the design, the acoustic characteristics of chamber are confirmed via finite element computer simulation. As case studies, absorption and scattering coefficients of several materials and diffusors are measured. The reverberation times needed for the measurements were obtained by the impulse response integration method. The small reverberation chamber demonstrated to be a reliable tool for middle and high frequency acoustic measurements.