93699 - Applied Acoustics and Lighting Enegineering M

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student knows the essential tools to operate in the fields of Acoustics and Lighting, with a view to interdisciplinary integration with other technical and architectural skills. Methods and technologies relating to: noise control in external environments will be covered; acoustic design of buildings; design of rooms for music and oral communication; artificial and natural interior lighting; artificial street lighting. An integral part of the teaching is knowledge of: measurement instruments, Italian and international technical standards, sector legislation

Course contents

APPLIED ACOUSTICS

1. Physical acoustics.
The nature of sound. Main acoustic quantities.
Sound speed in various media.
Plane, spherical, cylindrical, standing waves.

2. Psychoacoustics (introduction).
Human hearing system.
Annoyance and damage due to noise.

3. Sound levels, decibels and spectra.
Decibel scale.
(1/n) octave filters.
Frequency weighting curves.
Sound levels metrics.
Sound level meters.
Fourier analysis (introduction).

4. Outdoor noise.
Sound propagation outdoors.
Noise barriers.
Laws and standards.
Noise from factories, roads, railways, airports.

5. Building acoustics.
Sound insulation: basic laws.
Laws and standards.
Evaluation of the acoustic performance of buildings from the performance of their components.

6. Room acoustics.
Geometric approximation.
Statistic-energetic approximation. Reverberation.
Sabine and Norris-Eyring formulae for the reverberation time.
Wave approach (introduction).
Sound absorbing materials and systems.

7. Architectural acoustics.
Criteria for speech intelligibility.
Acoustics of performance spaces: historical overview from ancient times to Sabine's work.
Beranek's work.
Monoaural and binaural acoustic quality criteria for concert halls.
Ando's theory. Contemporary reearches.

LIGHTING

8. The human vision system (introduction).

9. Photometry.
Fundamental photometric quantities.
Basic photometric measurements.

10. Artificial light sources.
Hot wire lamps.
Gas discharge lamps.
LED systems.
Lamp enclosures.

11. Artificial lighting.
Artificial lighting in interiors.
Artificial lighting of streets.
Artificial lighting in tunnels.

12. Using natural light in interiors.

13. Lighting of artworks.

Readings/Bibliography

R. Spagnolo (a cura di), Manuale di acustica applicata, De Agostini Scuola - Città Studi Edizioni, Torino (2008).

G. Cesini, V. Lori, F. Serpilli, Acustica applicata e illuminotecnica, De Agostini Scuola - Città Studi Edizioni, Torino (2023).

A. De Lieto Vollaro, G. Moncada Lo Giudice, Illuminotecnica, Casa Ed. Ambrosiana , Milano (2007).

PDF copy of all slides presented during lessons on https://virtuale.unibo.it.

Other specialised books will be indicated to the classroom during the lectures.

Teaching methods

Traditional lessons for fundamental topics, with numerical exercises in classroom.

Didactic seminar for more applicative topics.

In classroom presentation and discussion of case studies on the acoustic impact of transport infrastructures, design of buildings with high acoustic performances, quality of performance halls, etc.

Laboratory sessions on measurement instrumentation and techniques.

Laboratory sessions on computer simulations with specialised software.

Students are encouraged to produce a project or a technical report which could contribute to their final assessment. Office hours will be established for assistance by a tutor and, if needed, to access to a computer with specialised software.

Assessment methods

The final assessment shall be one single oral examination, with a discussion of the reports produced by the students.

The questions aim to ascertain two main didactic objectives:

• the full knowledge of the theoretical concepts and methods presented to the classroom;
• the ability to use these tools to solve problems in the engineering field.

Students shall answer questions on principles and methods ("questions on theory") and questions oriented to solving a numerical problem like those discussed in the classroom ("exercises"). This aims to verify the student's ability to apply the given tools to model a situation, calculate the results and interpret them. In this regard, the project or technical report produced by the students could be considered.

If an online exam is needed, students must prepare in advance their workplace for the online exam, following the instructions available on the teacher's website.

Teaching tools

Lectures with the aid of a PC projector.

PDF copy of all slides presented during lessons downloadable from https://virtuale.unibo.it.

Laboratory sessions.

Office hours

See the website of Massimo Garai