RP-339 -- Improved Reliability of the Relation Between Sound Power Level and Sound Pressure Level

The original intention in the present project was to review the existing literature dealing with sound propagation in non- Sabine spaces. It was expected that some of the theories and models of sound propagation developed for such spaces could be adapted to improve upon the familiar relationship between sound power level and sound pressure level given by the Diffuse Field Theory, which does not work well in typical furnished spaces.

The central problem in this project was to find an adequate method for predicting the sound pressure level L_p at a certain location, due to a sound source whose sound power level l_w, is known. Specifically, we are interested in making such calculations for the kinds of indoor spaces that are of interest to ASHRAE, and we also wish to extend the calculation to account for a number of sound sources in the same space.