J. Acoust. Soc. Jpn.

(E) 16, 2 (1995)

Development of optimum acoustic diffusers

Daiji Takahashi
Department of Architectural Engineering,Fukui University,
Bunkyo,3-9-1, Fukui, 910 Japan

(Received29 June 1994)

It is required for ideal acoustic diffusers that the incident acoustic energy is scattered,
without any loss of energy, in all directions with equal distributions. Quadratic-residue
type diffusers were designed for this aim. But it has become clear that such type of
diffusers also provide highly selective and inevitable absorption depending on both the
frequency and the angle of incidence. In this article, in order to develop optimum
acoustic diffusers that provide highly diffuse reflections and less absorption of sound,
the possibility of realization is discussed theoretically. A measure regarding the sta-
tistics of diffusion is defined, which enables one to evaluate the performance of the
diffusers. As a result, it is shown that a surface profile that satisfies the condition of
optimum diffuser can be obtained without any difficulty in manufacturing. The design
procedure and a few examples are presented.
Keywords: Diffuser, Reflection, Grating theory, Corrugated surface
PACS number: 43. 20. Fn, 43. 55. Br, 43. 55. Dt, 43. 55. Ev

type of diffusers, many investigations have been

1. INTRODUCTION carried out in such a way that examples of scattering
It has been widely recognized that the spatial in- diagrams obtained either theoretically or experimen-
formations of sound in rooms as well as the tem- tally are presented, in which the design frequency and
poral structure are the important factor for room- the angle of incidence are specified.13-19) As a some-
acoustical conditions. Especially, evidence for the what different approach, B. A. de Jong et al.,20)
importance of early lateral reflections in concert halls proposed a method, in which numerical solutions of
has been obtained by many authors. The fact of the inverse problem are used as a design tool for
which requires ceiling with high diffusion without optimum diffusers. Considering the situation de-
any loss of energy. Also a sufficient degree of scribed above, any objective measure that expresses
diffusion in theaters, council chambers, studios and the total scattering performance of a diffuser seems
so on is one of the most important factor for the to be necessary.
acoustical conditions. In the present paper, a criterion regarding the
For the purpose of providing highly diffuse reflec- degree of diffusion is defined, which includes the
tions over a wide frequency range, the quadratic- dependence of both frequency and the angle of
residue type diffusers (QRD) was designed by incidence. Basically, the degree of diffusion of a
Schroeder1) and has been practically used as a ceiling diffuser can be evaluated as a single-number rep-
or a reflector in many halls and studios. But recent- resentation by using this new criterion. In order
ly it has been pointed out that such type of diffusers to discuss the possibility of optimum diffusers, some
also provide unintended high sound absorption theoretical investigations are carried out using this
especially at low frequencies, which has been in- criterion for wave scattering from corrugated sur-
vestigated both experimentally2-6) and theoretical- faces. As a result, it is shown that a surface profile
ly.7-12) As for the scattering performance of this for practical use that satisfies the optimum condi-

51
 J. Acoust. Soc. Jpn. (E) 16, 2 (1995)

tion can be obtained. The design procedure and a

few examples will be presented.

2. REFLECTION FROM A
CORRUGATED SURFACE
Many investigations for the problem of wave
scattering from corrugated surfaces have been per-
formed mainly in the field of electromagnetics21)
since the pioneering work of Rayleigh.22) Most of Fig. 1 Geometry of a wave scattering
them have been treated as a two-dimensional prob- model.

lems, in which the surface is assumed to be periodic

in one direction as the basic model of a surface with
second term on the right side of Eq. (3), one obtains
arbitrary or random profile, which is represented
the expression for the coefficient ƒÕn as follows:
in Fig. 1. The boundary surface under considera-
tion is periodic with the period L having an arbitrary
profile. The incident plane wave with unit ampli-
tude that is expressed as the velocity potential is (5)
described by The boundary condition, by assuming the acoustic

(1) characteristics of the surface to be representable by

its specific acoustic admittance A, is
where ƒ¿0=k sin ƒÓ sin ƒÆ, ƒÀ0=k cos 95 sin ƒÆ, ƒÁ0=

k cos Į with k as the wavenumber, and the time

(6)
factor exp(-iwt) is suppressed throughout. Re-

flected waves together with the incident wave in the Calculations for the expressions •Ý/•Ýn and dc in

region z>ƒÌmax give rise Eqs. (3) and (5) can be carried out by using the
_to the total field ƒÕr(=
exp (iƒÀ0y)ƒÕ), which is ƒÕ=ƒÕi+ƒÕr. The reflected relations •Ý/•Ýn=[•Ý/•Ýz-ƒÄ'(x)•Ý/•Ýx]/•ã1ƒÄ'(x)2, dc=

waves ƒÕr, on consideration of the surface periodic- √1+ζ'(x)2dx.

ity, can be expressed as The quantity ƒÕn represents the amplitude of an

elemental plane wave propagating in the direction

that is determined by two angular factors an and ƒÁn

(2) with the order n of the condition that ƒÁn is real.

The sound intensity of each elemental wave, which is

where ƒ¿n=ƒ¿0+ 2nƒÎ/L, and ƒÁn=[(k2-ƒÀ02)-ƒ¿n2]1/2 here called scattering intensity, is defined as the

with (Re{yn}•†0, and Im{ƒÁn}•†0). From the two- intensity level Ln as follows:

dimensional form of Green's theorem, it follows

that
(7)
in which T is the plane wave amplitude for the case

of perfectly diffuse reflection: i.e., equal distribution

of scattering with respect to the order n, and is given

by Eq. (10) in the subsequent section.

The absorption coefficient ƒ¿ƒÆ,ƒÓ of the boundary

(3) surface depending on both angles of incidence can

be calculated as

where ƒÁp=(xp,zp), r=(x,z) and G=G(ƒÁp/ƒÁ) denotes

a fundamental solution for the problem of wave

(8)
scattering from a periodic boundary surface, which
where the sum runs over integer n such that ƒÁn is
is given by23)
real (only propagating modes), since the set of

evanescent modes does not contribute to the ra-

(4)
diated energy.

Considering the correspondence between ƒÕr and the The problem, finally, results in the way of deter-

52
 D. TAKAHASHI: DESIGN OF OPTIMUM DIFFUSERS

mination of the quantity on the surface z=

There are some kinds of methods regarding Ā.this (10)

problem. One of which is to apply Eq. (2) directly Sound intensity In of the nth scattered wave is here
to the boundary condition. This method was
defined, In=|ƒÕn/ƒÕ|2. For illustrating the amount
originally developed by Rayleigh,22) and has an
of scatter of the intensity In over the permissive
attractive simplicity. When the boundary surface
range of n (the total N), the objective criterion
is corrugated, however, this application is known to
DNSD (Doubly Normalized Standard Deviation) is
be restricted in relation to its period, amplitude, and
introduced as the following form:
incident wavelength. The most fundamental method
is to solve the boundary integral equation represent- (11)
ed by the second relation of Eq. (3) under the condi- where
tion (6), and to substitute the solution into Eq. (5).
This method is known to be the most rigorous (12)
mathematically, but has difficulty in the practical
Double normalization means having two steps of
calculation. The special kind of calculating method
normalizing, the first of which is to define the rela-
using FFT algorithm24) can be applied to this prob-
tion In=In/‡”nIN that is used to eliminate the bias in
lem, which allows one to obtain the numerical solu-
the frequency characteristics of the deviation . The
tion without a waste of cost and time.
quantity ƒÊ is the mean value of In, i.e., ƒÊ= ‡”nIn/N.
3. CRHTERION FOR THE The second is the normalization by deviding ƒÐ by

DEGREE OF DIFFUSION its maximum value ƒÐmax, which is defined in the

limit when the surface approaches a plane holding

As for the diffusivity of the QRD, many investi-
the same period: i.e.,
gations have been performed after a Schroeder's

original paper was published, in which the only (13)

measure for evaluating the degree of diffusion is to
When the surface becomes a perfect plane, then
present some calculated examples of directional dis-
N=1 and Eq. (13) cannot be used, but this case
tribution of scattered waves for both each frequency
corresponds to the condition DNSD=1 in view of
and each angle of incidence. The perfectly diffuse
the substantial property of a. Thus the value of
reflection means that the waves are scattered in
DNSD varies in the range 0•`1; DNSD=0 for a
different directions with equal strength, while the
perfect diffusion, and DNSD=1 for a specular
least diffusion means a specular reflection. In this
reflection. The basic idea of DNSD is very similar
range, what can be the measure in evaluating the
to a criterion called 'directional diffusion' proposed
degree of diffusion? A criterion in relation to the
by Thiele,25) which is used in order to evaluate the
standard deviation of the intensity of the scattered
distribution of sound reflections in a room.
waves seems to be the most probable. Thus a modi-
An example of the DNSD characteristics at ƒÆ=0•K
fied standard deviation, which is here called DNSD
calculated for a QRD in Ref. 26) is shown in Fig. 2,
is defined as a criterion for evaluating the periodic
in which the design frequency is 200-2,200 Hz then
diffusers like QRDs.
the prime number NQ=11 with the width w and the
The reflected waves are expressed, as shown in
unit depth ds of 7.7 cm. Generally as the frequency
Eq. (2), as a superposition of elemental waves, each
increases the degree of diffusion becomes higher.
of which is a scattered plane wave propagating in the
The characteristics, however, are affected quite
direction with the angular factor ƒ¿n and ƒÁn in the
sensitively by a slight change in frequency. In
condition ƒÁn is real. Assuming a non-absorbing
order to check the correspondence between DNSD
diffuser, one obtains the following relation:
and the degree of diffusion, a characteristics of

(9) directional distribution in both the frequency and

the scattered angle and some examples of scattering
The perfectly diffuse reflection means that the value diagrams are shown in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively.
￨ψn￨ is constant over the whole numbers of n. In It can be seen from these results that it is possible to
this case, let|ƒÕn|=ƒÕ, then from Eq. (9),ƒÕcan be
judge the degree of diffusion based on the value of
determined as DNSD and its characteristics. The case of DNSD

53
 J. Acoust. Soc. Jpn. (E) 16, 2 (1995)

Fig. 2 Frequency characteristics of DNSD Fig. 3 Directional distribution of the

calculated for a QRD with NQ-11, scattered waves of a QRD with the same
w=ds=7.7cm at a perpendicular in- properties as in Fig. 2.
cidence.

Fig. 4 Scattering diagrams of a QRD with the same properties as in Fig. 2.

=0.3 corresponds to the amount of scatter+2•`3dB

4. OPTIMUM DIFFUSERS
in the scattering intensity level and about+5dB

for the case of DNSD=0.5. It was shown in the previous section that the
A similar way of using the standard deviation for diffusivity of the QRD strongly depends on the fre-
evaluating the degree of diffusion of the scattered quency. The diffusing characteristics seem to be
energy fluxes is seen in the Schroeder's original rather rugged, the effect of which on the room-
paper.1) But the parameter was used only as a
acoustic conditions has not yet been clarified. Apart
supplemental data, and has not been developed into from this problem, the function of optimum diffusers
a criterion for designing optimum diffusers ever is to provide reflections in different directions with
since. equal strength over a wide frequency range, which

54
 D. TAKAHASHI: DESTGN OF OPTIMUM DIFFUSERS

corresponds to the case with minimum value and less important. Thus the condition H/L<0.1 will
uniform characteristics of DNSD. Thus the criterion be desired in the following section.
DNSD can be useful measure for designing an

optimum diffuser. 4.2 Profiles of the Optimum Diffusers

In order to privide optimum diffuse characteris-
4.1 Excess Absorption of Corrugated Surfaces tics, the discussion will be given to the determina-
In a similar way that a sound wave with arbitrary tion of the period L and the height H of the surface
temporal structure is composed of elemental sinu- with sinusoidal configuration expressed by Eq.(14).
soidal waves, the sinusoidal surface constitutes a For a brief description, the incident wave is re-
useful prototype in the investigation of reflection stricted to two-dimensional of the plane including
from corrugated surfaces of arbitrary profile. The χ and z:i.e.,φ=90゜. But this restriction does not
boundary surface Ā(x) in Fig. 1 is here assumed harm the substantial qualities of the subsequent
discussion.
(14)
The nth elemental plane wave of the reflected
When a ratio H/L becomes higher, it seems to be a
waves in Eq. (2) propagates in the direction On
little probable that the excess absorption occurs due
determined by the relation ƒÆn=sinƒÆ+2nƒÎ/kL).
to the surface corrugation. In order to check the
In the case of perpendicular incidence that seems to
phenomenon, the absorption coefficient at ƒÆ=0•K
be practically the most important, the relation
was calculated from Eq. (8) with the parameter H/L
reduces to sin ƒÆn••2nƒÎn/kL, in which the condition
in the range of 0.05•`0.2. The results are shown in
￨2nπ/kl￨<1 is required for the existence of ƒÆn.
Fig. 5, in which the material is polywood with the
The specular component is expressed as the case
specific admittance calculated from the interpola-
π=0, which always exists. To ensure that the other
tion on the basis of measured data. It can be seen
components exist, the critical condition of kL>2ƒÎ.
that the characteristics have peaks in accordance
must be required: i.e., the surface period must be
with a certain regularity, and a more important
larger than the wavelength. When the design
matter is that as the ratio H/L increases the absorp-
frequency is assumed to be more than 250 Hz, for
tion becomes much higher over the frequency range
example, the minimum length of the surface period
of interest, especially at high frequencies this tenden-
is 1.36m. But this case corresponds to the reflected
cy is remarkable. In the case of H/L<0.1, the
angle of ƒÆ•}=•}90•Kthat is grazing angle and is
upward tendency of the sound absorption does not
practically less important. Then the rounded value
appear, and the effect of excess absorption becomes
of the period L= 1.5m is adopted, which gives rise

to that ƒÆ•}1•}65•Kat 250 Hz.

As for the determination of the height H, the

discussion is given to minimizing the value of

Fig. 6 DNSD variation with the height

Fig. 5 Effect of the surface corrugation on ratio H/L of a surface with sinusoidal
the sound absorption of the boundary profile. Frequencies represented in the
with sinusoidal profile. figure correspond to the case L=1.5m.

55
 J. Acoust. Soc. Jpn. (E) 16, 2 (1995)

Fig. 7 Configurations of three proposed Fig. 8 Frequency characteristics of DNSD

diffusers. calculated for three proposed diffusers.

Fig. 9 Examples of the directional distribution of the scattered waves for three proposed
diffusers.

Fig. 10 Examples of the scattering diagram for three proposed diffusers.

56
 D. TAKAHASHI: DESIGN OF OPTIMUM DIFFUSERS

DNSD defined by Eq.(11). Figure (6) shows the whole angles of incidence, which will be available for
DNSD variation with respect to H/L, with the rooms with a demand of high sound diffusion; the
parameter of frequency at an interval of 1/2-octave application of this design procedure to the two-
band. As can be seen in this figure, a consensus dimensional case, which, however, may not be a
point clearly exists among the whole frequency substantial problem; and finally the examination of
range of interest, which is lying in the range H/L= any risk inherent in reflection by periodic structures,
0.05•`0.08. Also, in this range, from the results which is, for example, a 'colouration'.
described in the previous section, there is almost no
REFERENCES
risk of energy loss. Consequently the following

three types of surface configuration as the optimum 1) M. R. Schroeder,"Binaural dissimilarity and

diffusers can be proposed: One is a simple sinusoidal
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sound diffusion." J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 65, 958-963
diffuser (SSD), in which the consensus point of
(1979).
H/L=0.06 is adopted: i.e.,ƒÄ(x)=H cos (2ƒÎ/L)
2) K. Fujiwara, "Sound absorber for low frequency
with L=1.5m and H=9cm. A consideration of with the aid of random phase interference," Proc.
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3) K. Fujiwara, H. Torihara, and Y. Katsuse, "Ab-
ζ(x)=[H1-(H1-H2) M(x)] cos (2πx/L), M(x)=
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exp[-γ(x-L/2)2], L=1.5m, H1=12cm, H2=7.5
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 J. Acoust. Soc. Jpn. (E) 16, 2 (1995)

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58