Mixing materials in false ceilings to increase sound diffusion in education spaces

According to the International standards on education spaces, in situ acoustic tests should achieve specific reverberation time targets. Since the match between predictive formulas and measurements increase with the sound field diffuseness, it is extremely important to pursue such condition through proper design choices. For example, false ceilings can play a key role in controlling room acoustic features; however, the use of such elements is generally considered only for absorption purposes. For this reason, the present work concerns mixing materials in false ceilings within a group of teaching spaces here taken as case studies. The alternation of materials with different acoustic impedances has been investigated through experimental acoustic measurements and numerical models in order to assess the related sound diffusion increase. The ceiling treatment here proposed proved to be an efficient and smart method to exploit diffraction effects along material discontinuities junctions. The match between early design predictive formulas and the results of the acoustic measurements enhanced the reliability of the acoustic design process and set up a potential new guideline for indoor acoustic treatments.