ACOUSTICS OF BUILDINGS

With Applications in the Pentagon

By FLOYD R. WATSON
INTRODUCTION
structure a r e absorbed when they set up a friction lw-
A
(XIUSTICS of buildings is that part of the science
of physics which deals with the control of sound tween thin layers of air and the adjacent solid material
in buildings. Since the purpose of this control is to which the layer adheres, with a consequent creation of
to create conditions by which people can hear with com- heat. Sound energv is also used up when it generate"
fort, it is necessary to consider not only the principles of vibrations in windows, doors, partitions. etc. The amount
sound but to take into account also the phenomena o f of energy in sound is small, an average voice having
hearing. only about one-millionth of the energy needed to operate
an ordinary electric lamp. which means that but little
SOUND AND ITS ACTION heat is generated when sound is absorbed.
Sound is similar to light in many of its actions; it is HEARING
reflected, refracted. diffracted, etc.. as light is, but it
should be realized that it is entirely different funda- The limits of sound that can be perceived by the nor-
mentally. Sound is a mechanical wave motion in a mate- mal ear are shovin by the diagram in Fig. 1. The lower
rial medium, while light is an electro-magnetic he no me- heavy line (threshold of hearing) shows the faintest
non in the fictitious ether. Another difference which is sounds that can be perceived, while the upper curve lo-
important in the acoustics of buildings, is that the aver- cates the loudest sounds that can be endured without
age wavelength of sound is about one million times harmful effects. Ordinary speech sounds lie between the
greater than the average wavelength of light, so that frequencies of 100 and 8000 cycles per second, but mu-
objects that are optically "large" a r e a c o u s t i c a l 1 y sical sounds cover a greater range. The intensity range
"small." Thus, a rough plaster wall acts as a polished that can be tolerated lies between zero decibels (threl-
mirror for sounds of moderate frequency; a partly hold) and 120 decibels, the latter sound being very loud,
opened window diffracts sound in about the same pro- as explained later.
portion that the fine lines on a grating diffract light. Many people are hard-of-hearing. a fact that must be
remembered in adjusting the acoustical conditions in
Sound originates when a vibrating body pushes and rooms. For a hard-of-hearing person, the threshold of
pulls on the air particles about it, thus generating com- hearing curve lies above the one shown in Fig. 1, indicat-
pressions and rarefactions that travel out in the sur- ing that the fainter sounds, including some of the sounds
rounding air with a large velocity of about 1100 feet per of speech and music, cannot be heard by the person, and
second. These waves enter the ear canal and push and that some sort of hearing aid may be needed.
pull o n t h e e a r d r u m , w h i c h t r a n s m i t s t h e m o t i o n
through an effective arrangement of three small hones to APPLICATIONS IN ACOUSTICS OF BUILDINGS
the inner ear, where the mechanical energy is trans- The procedure followed by acoustical engineers in
formed into nervous energy and the person hears. designing acoustical treatment is, first, to anticipate the
Sounds in a building are of two kinds: those that are possibilities of noise before a building is started and to
wanted and those that are objectionable (noise). The make provision to reduce the disturbances. '[Tie second
unwanted sounds should he eliminated as far as possible, procedure is to adjust conditions so that the wanted
while the wanted sounds should be adjusted for comfort- sound will be loud enough and undistorted.
able hearing. Sound is a form of energy. and energy can- A detailed account of acoustical treatment is not pos-
not be destroyed. To eliminate sound, therefore, requires sible in a brief article. lint some general principles may
a transformation to some other form of energy. ulti- be discussed. Consider the disturbances set up by a type-
mately heat. Thus, sound waves impinging on a porous writer in an office. It generates a "click" when a type

140
120
1/1

gu 100
- 80
.c
-s 60
-
i 40 .02 .z
--5
In

c
20 .OO2
?!
$ FIG. I. [Left) Limit o f sound
that can be perceived by the
0 .0002 2 normal ear.
-2020 100 1000 10000
Frequency in cycles per second

Page 4 ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY

 FIG. 2. (Right) Reverberation time for audito-
rium as a function of the size of the audience.

hits the paper and a '"thump" when the carriage is

stopped abruptly after each click. The click sound is
effectively stopped (reflected) -when it meets a solid
boundary of the room, and if this boundary is lined with
sound-absorbing material, much of the click sound dis-
appears. The thump creates a vibration that is communi-
cated to the table, then through the table legs to the floor,
where it spreads out through the solid structure of the
building and may be heard, usually in the room below.
An elastic felt cushion under the machine presents an
effective reduction in the transmission of the disturbance.
This same procedure applies also to other machines,
such as calculating machines, motors, etc., but more dras-
tic action must be taken for these more intense disturb-
ances. Grouping noisy machines in separate rooms al-
lows a better control of the sound by mounting each
machine on an elastic support and by installing sound-
absorbing material on sound-proof walls.
The theory and practice of insulating machines is a
large subject in itself. The resonance frequency of the
elastic support is an important factor compared with the
frequency of the machine that is supported. If the two
frequencies are the same, a resulting motion is set up
with a large amplitude that may result in damage. Gen-

FIG. 3. Pentagon Building.

October, 1944 Page 5
 FIG. 4. Acoustic treatment of walls with convex FIG. 5. Acoustic treatment of ceiling with convex
panels-Pentagon Building. panels-Pentagon Building.

erally, high-frequency machine vibrations require an awkward to use in practice, so that smaller numbers were
elastic mounting of low frequency and without friction, obtained by taking logarithms of the intensities. The
but low frequency or impulsive vibrations should have decibel difference between two sounds of intensities I,
an elastic mounting with damping. (See Mechanical Vi- and I n is given by the equation:
brations, by J. P. den Hartog, and other texts.) d b = 10 x log," (12/1,)
Air openings between rooms, such as ventilators, tran- where d b is the usual abbreviation of decibel. For
soms, cracks under and around doors, etc., allow easy example, if I, and I;, represent respectively the intensi-
transfer of sound. Doors and windows transmit more ties of one musical instrument and 10 similar instru-
sound than the adjacent thicker and more massive walls. ments, the d b difference between them is: db = 10 x log
Unless these defects are corrected, it will be a waste of (10/1) = 1 0 x 1 = 10 db. It might be remarked
effort to construct sound-proof walls. Ventilators can be further that the 10 instruments would appear to he only
equipped with baffles and lined with sound-absorbing ma- about twice as loud as one instrument.'
terials; doors and windows can be made tight-fitting.
ACOUSTICAL ADJUSTMENT OF ROOMS
When effective insulation is wanted, double doors and
windows should be installed. Generally, the objective is A sound in a room proceeds rapidly outward in qpher-
to make all the boundaries of the room equal in stopping ical waves with but little absorption until a surface is
sound. reached. Here the sound suffers some absorption and is
Noise is measured in units called decibels. The inten- reflected to another surface for more absorption and re-
sities of sounds that the ear can tolerate range from a flection, and so on until it becomes inaudible. For ex-
threshold sound-one that can barely be perceived-to ample, in a room with a volume of 100,000 cubic feet,
that of a very loud sound, such as a nearby airplane, that bounded b y 20,000 square feet of hard plaster walls and
may be as murh as 1.000.000,000,000 times greater than wooden floor that absorb an average of three per cent of
the threshold. Such large numbers were found to be 'Fletcher a n d Mumon, Jour. 4rous. Sac. -truer., 9 , 1, 1 9 3 7 .

Page 6 ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY

 dress sjstems, which might be designated more appro-
the sound is decreasingin energj to one-nlilliontll of its priately as sound-amplifying systems. These consist of a
initial value i t will be reflected 461 times and will travel microphone that "picks up" the sound of speech o r music
a distance of 9,220 feet in a "time of reverberation" of and converts the sound energy into a n electric current,
8.22 second^.^ Under these conditions, the acoustics will which is amplified and reconverted 'back into a louder
be very unsatisfactory. Before orre word of a speech dies sound that is emitted from an electric loud-speaker di-
out, several later words will have been uttered and will rectly to the audience. Thus, instead of the compara-
have been mixed with the earlier ones, thus producing a tively weak sound of the speaker's voice that spreads out
confusion that makes it almost hopeless for an auditor in spherical waves to all parts of a room, the loud-
to understand what is being said. The obvious improve- speaker emits a powerful beam of sound that is sent
ment is to make the sounds die out quicker by making directly to the area occupied by the audience. This ar-
the room more absorptive. rangement is comparable to the action of an automobile
The correction is brought about 'by installing sound- headlight on a foggy day that serves to reveal the pres-
absorbing materials on the boundaries of the room. The ence of the automobile to oncoming cars. The loud-
amount of absorption needed is calculated from the sim- speaker may be regarded as an acoustic headlight that
plified form of the general reverberation equation: pierces the "fog" o r reverberant sound in the room and
t == 0.05V/a "shines" on the auditor, thus allowing him to "see"
where t is the time taken for a sound to decrease to one- (hear) the sound. A satisfactory sound-amplifying sys-
millionth of its initial value, V is the volume of the room tem allows all the auditors in the room to get sufficient
in cubic feet. and a is the total amount of sound absorp- sound, those in the rear seats getting just as loud sounds
tion. For satisfactory acoustics the time should be re- as those in the front seats near the speaker. The system
duced to about two seconds for a large auditorium of also raises the sound level, which tends to hold the atten-
1,000,000 cubic feet, with greater reductions for smaller tion of listeners more effectively than the usual weaker
rooms. Details of calculation may be found in texts on sounds of speaking-a feature that is welcomed particu-
the s ~ b j e c t . Fig.
~ 2 illustrates graphically how a rever- larly by the hard-of-hearing.
berant school room may be corrected.
IN THE PENTAGON BUILDING
RESONANCES
An opportunity for the application of the acoustical
The action of sound in a room as just described is procedures just described was given in The Pentagon.
modified by what are railed normal modes of vibration. First of all, a noise survey was conducted in various
That is, sound proceeding in certain directions is ampli- public buildings in Washington to obtain information
fied when successively reflections cause the waves to about the disturbances to be expected in The Pentagon
unite so as to make these particular sounds louder. This Building, which was then in the process of construction.
result is noticeable in a bath room which has highly re- Sound-level readings were taken of the noises of calculat-
flecting surfaces whereby sounds of appropriate fre- ing machine rooms, elevators, air-conditioning ma-
quency a r e increased in volume. The equation for the chinery, cafeterias and the Union Depot. An investiga-
frequencies, f , of these "'normal modes," as they are tion was also made to get information about available
called, is as follows: sound-absorbing materials. Large samples of these mate-
rials were mounted for inspection, and detailed data
were collected concerning the qualities of the products
and the cost of installation.
where p, q, and r are numbers, 0, 1. 2, 3. etc., for differ- Fig. 3 gives a perspective of The Pentagon. It reveals
ent modes; I, w,and h are respectively the length. width, a large variety of rooms and spaces, starting with the bus
and height of the room; and c is the velocity of sound. terminal on the ground floor, the large concourse over it,
As an example, if q = 0, r = 0, then f = cp/(21), cafeterias, lunch rooms, a multitude of offices, miles of
which gives the normal vibrations parallel to the length corridors, etc. The perspective shows five concentric
of the room. If the length of the room is 1 0 feet, the pentagonal buildings about the central court, connected
velocity of sound 1,120 feet per second, and p = 1, then by radiating corridors. The building covers 32 acres, in-
/ = l,120/(2xlO) = 56 cycles per second. For p = 2, cluding the 6-acre court, and is expected to accommodate
/ = 112 cjcles per second; etc. Similar vibrations can as many as 40,000 people.
be set up parallel to the width and height of the room. The chief features of the acoustical treatment are given
Diagonal vibrations can also take place as for example. as follows: Machinery for the air-conditioning system
when p = 1. q = 1, and r = 0. and f o r other purposes was placed on the top floor, re-
Resonances are objectionable because they amplifj mote from the main activities of the building, in rooms
some frequencies more than others. thus interfering with that were sound-deadened and that were equipped with
a uniform distribution of sound in a room. What is de- sound-proof walls when they were adjacent to offices.
sired are conditions that will allow all auditors wherever The machines selected were chosen from the "quiet-run-
they may be located to get satisfactory hearing. One nirig" types and were mounted on elastic supports. On
method for correcting the difficulty is to modify the walls the ground floor, the bus terminal ceiling was covered
and ceiling by convex panels which diverge the reflected with a material (metal-clad rockwool) that was highly
waves, thus reducing the possibilities of resonance and absorptive, fireproof, and could be cleaned or painted
increasing the uniform distribution sound. Sound-absorb- without acoustic loss. In the hundreds of office rooms,
ing materials installed between the convex panels serve the ceilings were deadened with various types of mate-
to control the reverberation and also to reduce the noibe rials. The noise of the Lamson tube system was reduced
level in the room. by a special device for minimizing the explosive sound
when packets left the tubes, and 'by deadening material
PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS in the central control room and in the outlets in different
A very important new development in the acoustics of parts of the 'building. A small auditorium and several
rooms has been brought about by the use of public ad- review rooms received special study. Convex panels in
the walls and ceiling were used to promote uniform dis-
(Continued on Page 18)

October, 1944 Page 7

Name * Class Rank Service Location Name Class Rank Service Location
Llewellyn, F. E. '38 Lt. (j.g.) U.S.N.R. Washington, D. C. Sigworth, H. W. - ex-'44 Ensign U.S.N.R. Cheri-eat
Loeffler, D. E. '40 x U.S.A. California Silberstein, R. F. '41 Spt. U.S.A. O~erqcas
Losey, R. M. . '35 U.S.A. Killed in Norway, Sinclair, C. . . ex '45 ( pi. U.S.A. Georgia
1940 Skinner, M. J. .'42 * U.S.N.R. San Pedro. Calif.
Lownes, E. D. . '2% Lt . U.S.A. Canada Slawsky, M, M. . . '35 U.S.N.R. Washington, D.C.
Macartney, E. J.. - '43 Ensign {J.S.N.R. Connecticut Small, J. G. . - . '41 U.S.M.C. *
MacDonald, J. H. -- '30 Lt. U.S.N.R. Smith, F., Jr. - '44 *
MacDonald, R. G. - '33 Capt. U.S.A. Oierseas U.S.N.R.
Smith, J. C. - . '42 U.S.N.R. Maryland
MacKenzie, D. C .- '22 Lt. Col. U.S. 4. Georgia
A

Maier, M. P - - 4 t Lt . U.S.4.
- Smith, R. C. . . . . '20 Major U.S.A. Demer, Colo.
Maloney, F. V. - '35 Lt. (j.g.) U.S.N.R. Overseas Smith, W. H. ey-36 It. U.S.N.R. Mawachiwtts
Manchee, V. . .ex '24 Capt. U.S.A. Alabama Snyder, W. M. - -- - '39 Cadet lJ.S.N.R. Texas
Marshall, R. W., Jr.. '44 U.S.N.R.
- Soike, R. J.. . . . . . '44 U.S.N.R. *
Martin, J. S. - - - '44 9' U.S.N.R. Southwick, T. S. '29 Capt. U.S.A. Virginia
Maiirer, F. A. '22 Lt. U.S.4. Ohio Spaulding, A. T., Jr. '44 U.S.N.R. *
Mayer, A. - '42 a U.S.A. Illinois Sperling, M. H. . . '29 *Â U.S.N.R. *
McClung, R. M. '39 2nd Lt. 1l.S.A. Illinois Spooner, W. A. '40 Ensign 1J.S.N.R. Overseas
McDougall, C. H. ex-'43 Ensign U.S.N.R. North Carolina Staatz, D. S. - '40 Lt. r.s.4. *
McKillip, J. C. S. 36 Lt . U.S.N. New York
,. Strickland C. P.. Tr '43 frisifn 1J.S.N.R. Oxerseas
McNaughton, 1. R. '44 Lt. U.S.N.R. Stroud, S. G. '41 * U.S.N.K. Ft. Schuyler, N. Y
Mercerean, J. T. '24 Lt. Col. U.S.A. Fort Belvoir, Va.
Sutton, R. 4. '43 Ensign U.S.N.R. Overseas
Meyer, G. F.-- '42 Lt. d.g.) U.S.N.R. Overseas Swift, F. T... . . '30 1.t.
Mitchel, T. S. - .'33 Lt. (j.g.) U.S.N.R. Florida U.S.N.R. Overseas
Mitchell, G . S. ex '30 Major U.S.A. Overseas Taylor, R. M. '39 I1.S.N.R. *
Mitchell, R. K. '44 4 U S.N.R.
v Tenney, F. H. - . .'43 Ensign lJ.S.N.R. *
Mohr, W. H. '29 Lt. Col. U.S.A. Mississippi Thayer, E. M. . '33 * U.S.N.R. *
Monning, J. ( , Jr. '33 Lt. Col. U.S. A. Overseas Thompson, F. W. - 'W ~ t . U.S.N.R. *
Moore, C. K. - '37
A
U.S.A. Dayton, Ohio Thompson, W. C., Jr. '43 Cpl. U.S.A. Florida
Morris, L. P. '34 Lt. Cmdr. U.S.N.R. California Tickner, A. J . . .'32 * U.S.A. Washington, D.C.
Morse, C. .- - '36 rapt. U.S.A. Overseas Tiemann, C. F. . '41 * U.S.A. *
Munk, W. H. '40
%#
U.S.A. Washington Titzler, H. N. . '44 1,t. U.S.A. *
Murphy, J. N. '37 Lt. U.S.N.R. San Pedro, Calif. Tuedio. J. - . .'44 *' U.S.N.R. *
Nestler, W. W. '36 Capt. U.S.A. Florida Tyler, R. M. '39 Lt. U.S.N.R. Overseas
Nevis, A. H. '36 Lt. IT S N. Hawaii Urgin. N. . . . - '34 Lt. (j.g.) U.S.N.R. *
Newby, C. T. - '41 Lt. U.S.N.R. Virginia Van Dyke, G. R. '40 Capt. U.S.A. Montana
Nichols, R. M. '36 x U.S.A. Overseas
Olson, C. W.. . --'44 %#
I1.S.N.R. w Van Dunen, C. A. e x 3 7 Lt. U.S.N.R. Florida
Osbom, J. E. '39 Ensign U.S N.R. Overseas Van Reed. M.. '35 Capt. U.S.A. Ft. Belvoir, Va.
Oshome, J. B. e x 3 1 Sgt. U.S.A. Missouri Veronda, C. M. ... '42 Ensign U.S.N.R. Massachusetts
Osborne, L. S. '44 * I1.S N.R. vv Wadsworth, J. F., Jr. '44 Capt. U.S.A.
Ours, S. R. '44 Comdr. T1.S.N. Walkowicz, T. F. '44 Capt. U.S.A. *
Parker, J. E. '38 Lt. U S.A. * Warfel, J. S. . - '33 1,t.Cmdr. U.S.N.R. Washington, D.C.
Parker, R. G. ex-'37 Major [J.S.M.C. Overseas Wayne, J. C. %4 Capt. U.S.A. *
Parker, T. B. '44 Lt . 1LS.A. ** Weaver, F. E. '44 * U.S.N.R. Rhode Island
Pearce, R. B., Jr '44 Lt . U.S.A. Wehster, G. M. '22 Maior U.S.A. Oregon
Pearne, J. F. '34 Lt. fi.g.) U.S.N.R. Wheeler, F. A. .. '29 Lt. Cmdr. U.S.N.R. Overseas
Philleo, R. A. '2 7 Major TI S A. California Widdoes, L. C. '41 Lt. U.S.N.R. Washington
Pilorz, B. H.- '44 * TJ S.N.R. ** Williams, R. S. . '44 Capt. U.S.A. *
Potter, W. T. '35 Ensign IJ S.N.R. Wilson, J. H. - - '44 * U.S.N.R.
Powlesland. K. L. '43 Ensign IT S.N.R. Virginia
T I S.N.R. *x
Proctor. H., Jr. '44 A: Winchell, Robert '44 Major U.S.A. Florida
Putt, D. L. '38 Lt. USA Winter, P. H... .. '44 Ensign U.S.N.R. Rhode Wand
Radford, J. C. '34 Lt. Cmdr. U S.N.R. Washington, D. C. Wolf, P. L. .. '44 * U.S.N.R. *
Rambo, L. '43 Ensign T I S.N.R. New Jersey Wolfe, S. . .. '41 * U.S.A. *
Ramey, R. C. ex-'26 Lt. (j.g.l U S.N.R. Overseas Wood, F. W. . '42 Lt. U.S.A. Idaho
Rattray, M., Jr. . '44 * I S.N.R. *
T Woodard, G. E. '34 Ensign U.S.N.R. *
Reid, D. C. - '43 Ensign U S.N.R. Overseas Wychoff, P. H. . '37 Major U.S.A. Ohio
Reimers, G. I. '41 Ensign U S.N.R. Washington, D. C. Zipser, S. . '30 Lt. U.S.A. Overseas
Rempel, J. R. '44 TI S.N.R. *9 Zivic, J. A. - -'44 Lt. U.S.N.R. *
Reynolds. R W. '27 ^ T1.S.A.
~ h h a d e s ,R. . - -. '43 Ensim V S.N.R. New Jersey
Richards, R. T. . '17 Lt. CoL U.S.A. Overseas
Richardson, 0. B. .. '30 Lt. Cmrlr. I1.S.N.R. California
Ridenour. C. H...........'18 Brig. Gen. U.S. 4. New York
Rims, E, H.................'27 Major I?S.A. California Acoustics of Buildings
Ritter, J. ...................... '35 Lt. T1.S.N.R. Overseas
Roese, H. V................. '42 * U.S.M.C. * (Continued from Page 7)
Rogers, W. V ...............'27 Major U S.A. *
Rupert, C. S., Jr ......... '41 Lt. (j.g.) 1J.S.N.R. Washington, D.C. tribution of sound, while absorbing material was in-
Schneider, A. ............'43 Cadet U.S.N.R. 9' stalled in selected locations to reduce the reverberation
Schneider, C. L ........... '34 Cant. U.S.A. * and noise. Figs. 4 and 5 give sketches of the construc-
Schrader, C. G......... ..'40 U.S.N.R. Washington. D.C.
Schroder, L. D ........... '32 U.S.A. Fort Douglas, tions used.
Utah
Schubert, Wm. .......... '41 Lt. (j.g.) U.S.N.R. Annapolis Md. CONCLUSION
Schultz. W. F.............'32 Capt. U.S.A. The decision to provide acoustical treatment for the
Scott, W, R., Jr ......... '44 U.S.N.R.
Scribner, 0. '42 U.S.A. Overseas entire Pentagon Building is in accord with the modern
Seed, R. W................. '44 U.S.N.R. * trend of adjustment of large buildings. Statistics show
Seekins, C. W .............'42 1J.S.N.R. Annapolis, Md. that office workers are more efficient under quiet condi-
Seller, D. D................. '44 Lt. U.S.N. tions; they are not so nervous, they get more work done,
Seymour, S................... '26 Lt. Col. U.S.A. California and absences are reduced. The Pentagon has the reputa-
Shalecky, F. H ........... '40 Ensign U.S.N.R. Overseas
Sharp, R. P................. '34 Capt. U.S.A. New York tion of being the world's largest and best equipped office
Shields, J. E ............... '22 Major U.S.A. Missouri building, a reputation which is based in part on the quiet
Shor, G., Jr .................'44 Ensign U.S.N.R. New York, N.Y. conditions.

Page 18 ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE MONTHLY