Reduced order modelling using parameterized non-uniform boundary conditions in room acoustic simulations

Quick simulations for iterative evaluations of multi-design variables and boundary conditions are essential to find the optimal acoustic conditions in building design. We propose to use the reduced basis method (RBM) for realistic room acoustic scenarios where the surfaces have inhomogeneous acoustic properties, which enables quick evaluations of changing absorption materials for different surfaces in room acoustic simulations. The RBM has shown its benefit to speed up room acoustic simulations by 3 orders of magnitude for uniform boundary conditions. This study investigates the RBM with two main focuses: (1) various source positions in diverse geometries, e.g., square, rectangular, L-shaped, and disproportionate room, (2) two-dimensional and three-dimensional (3D) inhomogeneous surface absorption by parameterizing numerous acoustic parameters of surfaces, e.g., the thickness of a porous material, cavity depth, switching between a frequency independent (e.g., hard surface) and frequency dependent boundary condition. Results of numerical experiments show speedups of more than 2 orders of magnitude compared to a high fidelity numerical solver in a 3D case where reverberation time varies within one just noticeable difference in all the frequency octave bands.