Design of ventilation ducts using Helmholtz resonators based on subjective evaluation

This study proposes an acoustic design method for ventilation ducts with multiple Helmholtz resonators based on psychometric evaluation using the Semantic Differential (SD) method. Each resonator is tuned to a specific frequency band—approximately one octave and placed in the duct to increase sound transmission loss. To reflect auditory comfort in residential acoustic environments, subjects were presented with filtered recordings of traffic and busy street noises in four frequency bands and their impressions were evaluated using the SD scales. The relationship between subjective responses and the acoustic frequency characteristics was modeled using Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression. Based on the resulting model, future work involves optimizing the geometry of the resonators and evaluating the acoustic performance through simulation. In addition, a visualization system is being developed that dynamically alters the duct geometry in real time according to user manipulation of impression sliders. This approach aims to enable the design of ventilation systems that reflect desired psychological impressions. By intuitively linking subjective evaluations with objective acoustic parameters, the proposed method contributes to the development of perception-driven acoustic design strategies for indoor environments.