Ventilation window is one of the critical elements in sustainable building development, although frequently, outdoor factors such as environmental noise can limit their use. It is necessary to develop windows with both natural ventilation and noise mitigation functions. Acoustic Metamaterials (AMMs) set a new trend in solving physical challenges related to sound wave control, which can find their applications in ventilation window. This study presents a design based on acoustic metacage concept to enhance the window's natural ventilation and acoustic performance. Finite Element Method (FEM) is used to study and optimise the acoustic performance of the metacage window. The ventilation is evaluated at the same time following predefined guidelines related to the window's opening ratio and airflow directivity. The metacage window structure finally, reduces the noise transmission with a mean value of 30 dB within a frequency range of 350-5000 Hz and has an opening ratio of the 33% compared to the whole system surface. The front panel gives a mean high frequencies TL contribution of 17 dB (2000-5000 Hz). Additional lateral constraint and cavities increase the TL performance up to 70% on a wider lower frequency range (350-5000 Hz). Thanks to the cavities, the resonant unit cells among the acoustic metasurface (AMS) significantly suppress sound from exiting the structure in broadband frequencies and allow bigger opening on the lateral side. This significantly contributes to the natural ventilation potential of the metacage window, which in the long term, becomes equally effective to the conventional open windows.
In modern urban scenarios, all the aspects of the historical heritage, including public open spaces and ancient buildings, have to meet the high increase of density of infrastructures and constructions, with the consequent change of visual and sound environments. This in turn affects people's quality of life. Because of the growing interest on this problem, this study investigates the relationship between soundscape and design solutions for urban furniture, considering technical and environmental feasibility of the designing process, from the materials characteristics, to the acoustic and psychoacoustic impact of the tool on the user. The process includes the acoustic suitability of three-dimensional printing materials, the suitability of acoustic design using software simulation, the experimental assessment of the performance of the three-dimensional printed prototype and the statistical evaluation of the chosen studying parameters and conditions. This article describes all the stages of the designing process, with a focus on the study of shapes and volumes of the prototype and on its impact on the user's perception. FEM simulations and experimental tests performed in a semi-anechoic chamber allowed to validate the design process. These analyses proved that the designed prototype of urban furniture can not only positively influence the physical environment but also the psychoacoustic perception of it.
Crucial factors in window performance, such as natural ventilation and noise control, are generally conceived separately, forcing users to choose one over the other. To solve this dualism, this study aimed to develop an acoustic metamaterial (AMM) ergonomic window design to allow noise control without dependence on the natural ventilation duration and vice versa. First, the finite element method (FEM) was used to investigate the noise control performance of the acoustic metawindow (AMW) unit, followed by anechoic chamber testing, which also served as the validation of the FEM models. Furthermore, FEM analysis was used to optimise the acoustic performance and assess the ventilation potential. The numerical and experimental results exhibited an overall mean sound reduction of 15 dB within a bandwidth of 380 to 5000 Hz. A good agreement between the measured and numerical results was obtained, with a mean variation of 30%. Therefore, the AMW unit optimised acoustic performance, resulting in a higher noise reduction, especially from 50 to 500 Hz. Finally, most of the AMW unit configurations are suitable for natural ventilation, and a dynamic tuned ventilation capacity can be achieved for particular ranges by adjusting the window’s ventilation opening. The proposed designs have potential applications in building acoustics and engineering where natural ventilation and noise mitigation are required to meet regulations simultaneously.
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