Dinara Xavier da Paixão

Brazil’s first undergraduate course in acoustical engineering.

The fact that the research on acoustics represents an important segment of science and a significant necessity of society is certainly commonplace among acousticians. In many situations, however, it is only marginally incorporated into the curricula of universities. This is particularly the case in the Brazilian educational and research institutions, mainly due to the lack of a comprehensive curriculum that accounts for basic education in acoustics, despite the enormous demand for acousticians in Brazil. To meet this demand, the Federal University of Santa Maria has begun, in the end of 2008, a dedicated 5‐year undergraduate course in Acoustical Engineering to provide students with more than basic knowledge in acoustics, vibrations, and audio. Within the first four semesters the curricula are structured to provide fundamental knowledge for enginners with traditional engineering subjects such as math, physics, mechanics, electrical circuits, and the like, accompanied by disciplines concerning musical educa...

Measurement and simulation of brick wall sound reduction index

This paper presents the procedures and results of an experimental, numerical simulation and analytical model of sound reduction index of solid brick wall. The solid brick used has the following dimensions: 22×10×5 cm and density of 1850 kg/m3. The physic‐mechanical characteristics: density, resistance, and elasticity modulus were measured using a set of small walls (0.60×0.63 m). One wall of 4.10×3.20×0.10 m (length/height/thickness) was built between two reverberant rooms, with 60 and 63 cubic meters in volume, respectively. Two kinds of junctions were used between the wall and the concrete walls of the reverberant rooms: elastic junction (with a thin layer of rubber, sealed with silicon rubber on both sides and the top of the wall) and rigid junction (using the normal mortar). The sound reduction index was measured according to ISO 140‐3 using airborne transmission. The brick characteristics were used as input data for the statistical energy analysis (SEA) model. The results from SEA, analytical, and me...