Experimental Measurements of Effects of Occupancy Class on Reverberation Time

Abstract

Experimental measurements have been focused on the issue of change in reverberation time T20 and T30 (s) in a selected room (classroom) due to its occupancy by persons (students) and changes in reverberation time T20 and T30 (s) as a result of the excitation signal during measurement. Reverberation time was measured in a standard room at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava (classroom B318) by the use of NORSONIC (NORSONIC NOR 280 amplifier, an omnidirectional sound source - NORSONIC NOR 270, NORSONIC TYPE 118, and microphone and preamplifier). The room (classroom B318) was selected as a model classroom in terms of its dimensions, i.e. volume (225 m3), arrangement of furniture, and maximum number of students during standard lectures (up to 24 people). The main task of this study was the inter-comparison of measurement results of reverberation times T20 and T30 (s), with regard to room occupancy of students (100%, 50%, 0%), the position of students (sitting and standing), and the excitation signal (pink noise, white noise, impulse - bursting of an inflated balloon).