Modelling of courtyard acoustics using the nodal discontinuous Galerkin finite element method to validate a newly developed PML

Evaluating the acoustics of courtyards has gained increasing attention from a sustainable urban design perspective, which requires numerical predictions tools for estimation of noise pollution and assessment of the influence of acoustic conditions. Accurate modeling of the acoustics of a courtyard is scarce because of the variety of factors to include: meteorological effects, building material properties, and geometry of the inner façades. We consider the nodal Discontinuous Galerkin finite element method framework in a 3D static and uniform medium and use it to model the sound propagation in a courtyard. A new and efficient Perfectly Matched Layer formulation is implemented at the open boundary of the courtyard model to absorb outgoing acoustic waves and this way limiting the size of the computational domain. The numerical results are validated against experimental measurements carried out in a scaled model of a courtyard with an elementary design to implement an accurate corresponding numerical model. The experiments were conducted in an anechoic chamber where the meteorological effects are controlled, and the courtyard facades are modelled as flat surfaces with known material properties.