Beschreibung:
The reverberant response of hard-walled rooms to recycled excitation (“retroreverberation”) is analyzed by means of an electrical analogy theory. Solutions are found in the form of chains, a new link being added each time the excitation is recycled. The solutions describe the time dependence in both the onset and decay phases of the retroreverberation process. The solution is extended mathematically to the frequency domain, in which the method finds its most suitable expression. The physical applicability of the mathematical model has been established by experiments in a reverberation chamber. The experimentally observed temporal behavior of the sound field in the chamber has been predicted by use of the theoretical formula, and the time and frequency constants of the formula have been evaluated and interpreted. The work has provided justification of the initial ideas previously reported [see M. Novoa Nava, “Retroreverberation,” J. Acoust. Sec. Am. 53, 798(L) (1973)] and the basis for a quantitative method for measuring the time constants involved.