Bellaartista Designs 3D Wall Panels Reverberation Time Measurements

Are you looking for wall panels with an acoustic value?  Highly reverberant spaces can sound extremely loud, echoey and can be acoustically uncomfortable.  Our designs have been tested and the results have shown significant reductions in reverberation time, therefore providing an appreciable improvement to the acoustics of a space for feature walls and ceilings.

We have available multiple backing materials that adhere to our unique design e.g custom made canvas hardwood boards, birch plywood, marine grade wood and Alucobond/Dibond.

Prepared by: SLR Consulting Australia Pty Ltd:   Report No – 640.109727-R1

SLR Consulting Australia Pty Ltd (SLR) were retained by Bellartista Designs Pty Ltd to carry out tests to investigate the acoustical properties of Bellaartista Designs 3D wall panels. The panels are comprised of molded polyurethane and have a 3D profile. The investigations were prompted by reports from Bellaartista clientele that the panels improve room acoustics.

REVERBERATION TIME (T60 OR RT60)

Reverberation time measurements were conducted in the showroom foyer at  Law Court West Sunshine, with and without Bellaartista panels installed on the walls.  All tests were completed on 27 August 2014.

Reverberation time, or T60, is the time it takes, in seconds, for sound in a room to reduce in level by 60 decibels (dB).  Rooms with hard surfaces typically have long reverberation times due to multiple reflections of sound off the walls, floor, etc.  The T60 affects ambient noise levels, speech privacy and speech intelligibility.  Highly reverberant spaces can sound loud, ‘echoey’ and can be acoustically uncomfortable.  Reverberation control is typically achieved by adding absorption to a space, in the form of carpet, soft furnishings and / or acoustic tile ceilings.

TEST ROOM

All acoustic tests were conducted in the foyer of the Bellaartista showroom.  Foyer and panel details are provided below.  Refer to Figure 1 for photos.

• Foyer volume: 21 m³
• Wall area:  37 m²
• Floor area:  7.9 m²
• Number of panels:  22
• Total area of panels:  7.7 m

TEST METHODOLOGY

Pink noise was produced in the showroom using a loudspeaker.  T60 measurements were conducted with a Rion NA28 sound level meter, Serial No. 30642067.  Measurements were conducted with all the showroom display panels in place; with approximately half the panels removed, and with all panels removed.  Results were obtained in octave bands from 250 Hertz (Hz) to 4 kiloHertz (kHz).

Measurements were repeated for two speaker positions, with ten measurements per speaker position.  Data affected by ambient noise, such truck passby events, has been excluded.  The arithmetic average of measurements for each band are provided in Table 1 and are shown graphically in Figure 2.

Table 1     Bellaartista foyer reverberation measurements, with and without panels

1. 	Octave Band Reverberation Time, seconds
   	250 Hz	500 Hz	1000 Hz	2000 Hz	4000 Hz
   No panels	1.0	1.1	1.1	0.9	0.6
   4.7 m² panels	0.8	0.8	0.9	0.7	0.4
   7.7 m² panels	0.7	0.6	0.7	0.6	0.4

DISCUSSION

The panels made a measureable improvement to the acoustics of the showroom foyer, resulting in a reduction in reverberation time in all measurement bands and significant reductions in the 500 Hz and 1000 Hz bands.

Based on the results of the tests conducted, the Bellaartista 3-D art panels could be expected to provide an appreciable improvement to the acoustics of a space provided that sufficient panels are installed.