Design-Focused Acoustic Analysis of Curved Geometries using a Differential Raytracing Technique

摘要

Curved surfaces have a major influence on the propagation of sound in rooms. Convex surfaces always lead to attenuated reflections spread out over a larger area, while concave surfaces create either amplification or attenuation of reflections, depending on the source and receiver positions relative to the curved surface. Contemporary architecture often involves extensive use of both convex and concave surfaces. Therefore, acoustic consultants need to be able to quickly gain a thorough understanding of a given curved geometry, and judge to what extent the arising focusing will be either benign or problematic (due to focusing, inhomogeneous sound distribution or flutter echoes).The advent of NURBS-based 3D software (e.g. Rhino~5) has made it possible to carry out very precise geometrical raytracing on curved surfaces, revealing their geometrical coverage. As a further refinement, a differential raytracing technique is proposed, allowing the straightforward calculation of the amplification or attenuation created by a given curved surface. This purely geometrical technique can also be applied to higher order reflections, in order to help identify flutter echo problems created by multiple reflection paths involving concave surfaces.Practical examples of halls with significant curved geometries will be given to illustrate the use of this approach, including Wigmore Hall, London and Wuxi Grand Theatre.