A numerical and experimental study on virtual sound barrier

Virtual Sound Barrier (VSB) is an array of loudspeakers and microphones forming an acoustic barrier, which creates a quiet zone without blocking air and light. In this paper a numerical modal of VSB system which has a three-dimensional structure is investigated. It can generate a quiet zone of a human head size in a normal room where the noise comes from many different directions. Numerical simulations show that it can be effective up to the middle frequency range. Finally, a 16 channels practical cylindrical VSB system has been developed. Experimental results in a normal room show that it can create the quiet zone of a human head size in the low-middle frequency with the total sound pressure level reduction of more than 10 dB in the quiet zone.