Investigation of the effective aperture area of sliding and hinged doors between coupled spaces.

Acoustical coupling between architectural spaces can be implemented by sliding or hinged doors. This study compares the effects of these variable coupling area designs on the sound field using temporal energy decay curve analysis. Varying the aperture size alters the multi-slope decay curve properties such as the decay rate of each slope and their point of intersection (time and level). A predictive model is proposed, based on a geometrical approach and statistical theory for coupled volumes. Differences between scale model measurements and analytical predictions are quantified by means of deviations of acoustical parameters; reasonable agreement is found.