Sound absorption in a scale model reverberation chamber

Abstract

Scale models of rooms are widely used to investigate architectural acoustics. However, when building a room model, the choice of materials to simulate the surfaces of the original room should follow carefully the similarity conditions. In practice, it is very difficult to model the acoustic parameters of the materials used in room scale models. This work consists in the construction and validation of a small-scale reverberation chamber, according to the international standards, developed in order to improve similarity conditions in scale modeling. Such a chamber is relatively low cost and its configuration can be easily modified. The volume of the model reverberation chamber is 0.389 cubic meters, equivalent at 1:8 scale to a real volume of 200 cubic meters, a standard size for reverberation chambers. Made in wood with one transparent acrylic side, the one-eighth scale reverberation chamber can be used to test theories about room acoustics as well as to test absorbing materials. Experimental results for the chamber qualification are presented and the search for octave band similar materials is reported.