SoundInsulation

WallsandPartitions
Dr.Subodh V.Modak
Professor
DepartmentofMechanicalEngineering
IndianInstituteofTechnologyDelhi
Rollofapartition
Totalsoundpowerincidentis:

Partiallyreflected
Partiallyabsorbed
Partiallytransmittedtootherside
Partiallytransmittedtotheconnectingstructures
Soundinsulationprinciples
Reflectionbyimpedancemismatch
Absorptionviasoundabsorbingmaterials
Pluggingtheairborneacousticpaths
Soundtransmissionloss
Airbornesoundtransmissionlossisameasureofthedegreetowhich
amaterialorconstructioncanblockorreducetransmissionofsound
fromoneareatoanother.

Allmaterialsblockorattenuatesoundenergytoadegree

Heavy,imperviousmaterialsblockmoreeffectivelythanlight,porous
ones.
 Measuredinapairofreverberationchambers
Soundtransmissionlossvaluesaremeasuredat
eachonethirdoctavebandfrequencyfrom125
to4000HzandareexpressedindB.

LeadstoarelationbetweentheTLandtheSPLs
TLvaluesaredeterminedandmeasuredin
accordancewithASTMStandardE90(Standard
TestMethodforLaboratoryMeasurementof
AirborneSoundTransmissionLossofBuilding
PartitionsandElements.
Itgivesrandomincidencetransmissionloss Measuringsound
Itisgenerallyonlowersideascomparedtothe
normalincidenceTLcomputedfromthe transmissionloss
formula
Soundtransmissionclass(STC)

SoundTransmissionClass (or STC)isan integer ratingofhowwell

a building partition attenuatesairborne sound.

Asinglenumberratingderivedfrommeasuredvaluesoftransmissionin
accordancewithASTMClassificationE413(DeterminationofSound
TransmissionClass).

TheSTCnumberisderivedfromsoundattenuationvaluestestedatsixteen
standard(1/3Octavebands)frequenciesfrom125Hzto4000Hz.These
TransmissionLossvaluesarethenplottedonasoundpressurelevelgraph
andtheresultingcurveiscomparedtoastandardreferencecontour.
STC Method

Themethodcomparesafamilyofnumberedcontourswithonethird
octavebandTLdatacoveringtheonethirdoctavebandsfrom125Hz
to4000Hz,inclusive.
ThenumberofthecontourthatbestfitsthedatagivestheSTCrating.
Allcontoursaredefinedacrosstheonethirdoctavebandrange125
Hzto4000Hz,inclusive,andarenumberedaccordingtotheirvalueat
the500Hzband.
Thenumberedcontoursaregeneratedfromareferencecontour,
whichdefinesSTC 0.
STC 0andSTCN
STC0(ReferenceContour)
1/3OctaveBand[Hz] 125 160 200 250 315 400 500 630
ReferenceContour[dB] 16 13 10 7 4 1 +0 +1
STC0(ReferenceContour)continued
1/3OctaveBand[Hz] 800 1000 1250 1600 2000 2500 3150 4000
ReferenceContour[dB] +2 +3 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4

Theonethirdoctavebandvaluesofanumberedcontourare
computedbyaddingthecontournumber(whichmustbeaninteger)
tothereferencecontourvaluesforallbands.
Forexample,the45 contourhasavalueof45dBinthe500Hzband,
aswellas29 dB(4516dB)inthe125Hzband,32 dB(4513dB)in
the160Hzband,andsoon.
CalculationofSTC
SelectatrialcontourforcomparisonwiththemeasuredTLdata.
Identifybandswithdeficiencies,wherethemeasuredTLdatafall
belowthecontourunderconsideration.Themagnitudeofthe
deficiencyisthedifferencebetweentheTLvalueandthecontour
valueforthatband.NocreditisgivenforTLdataabovethecontour.
Sumthedeficienciesandidentifythemaximumdeficiency.
Increasethetrialcontournumberin1dBincrementstofindthe
highestnumberedcontourthatmeetsboth ofthefollowingcriteria:
Thesumofthedeficienciesislessthanorequalto32dB,and
Themaximumdeficiencyinanyonebanddoesnotexceed8dB.
Theresultingvalueat500HzrepresentstheSTCvalue.
Anexample
RelationshipbetweenSTCandnoisecontrol
effectiveness
SoundinsulationthroughSingleleafconstruction

TheTLcanbeincreasedbyincreaseofdensityorincreaseof
thickness
AnupperlimitexistsonthemaximumTLthatcanbeobtained
Needofmorecomplexwallconstructionand
assemblies
Todaysbuildingtechnologydependstoagreatextentonlight,
flexibleproductslikegypsumboardandlightweightsteelframing

Therefore,thechallengeistoutilizethesematerialsindesigning
assembliesthatprovideoptimumacousticalperformanceyetdonot
greatlyincreasetheweightandmassofthestructure.

TheanalyticalmodelsnolongercanbeusedtopredicttheTLand
experimentalmeasurementsneedtobeused.
Needoflighterwalls
Soundstrikingasurfacesuchasawallcausesthatsurfacetovibrate,
muchlikethediaphragmofadrum.
Themoremassivethewall,thelesstheamplitudeofvibrationofthe
wall.Thisresultsinlessnoisebeingtransmittedtotheroomonthe
othersideofthewall.
However,exceptincasesofexteriorwallsinlargecommercial
buildings,itisrarelypracticaltorelyonsheermasstoreducethe
transmissionofnoisethroughawall,especiallywhenattemptingto
solvenoisecontrolproblemswithinthebuildingenvelope.
Differenttypesofpartitionwalls
Panels
Masonrywalls(stoneorbrickworkwall)
Studpartitions(madeorassembledfromscrewjoints)
Glazedwindows(thatiswindowwithglass/glasses)
Floors
doors
Doubleleafwalls
Oneofthemosteffectivewaystoblockorreducethetransmissionof
soundfromoneroomtoanotheristobuildadoubleleafwall.
Adoubleleafwallorsoundtransmissionlossbarrierisanywallwith
twofacesseparatedbystuds.
Becauseoftheirconstruction,mostdoubleleafwallsweighlessthan
solidwallswiththesameorcomparablesoundtransmissionloss
values. Forthisreason,theyarecalledlightweightwalls.
Doubleleafwallscanberepresentedasmass/spring/masswalls
becausetheyhavetwomasses(faces)separatedbyairorstuds
(springs).
SoundinsulationthroughDoubleleafconstruction
SoundinsulationthroughDoubleleafconstruction

CurveCrepresentsthemasslaw
predictionforasingle1mmsteel
sheet,
CurveA:Doublewallsconsistsof
two0.5mmsteelsheetswith100
mmairspace
CurveB:Doublewallsconsistsof
two0.5mmsteelsheetswith
5mmairspace
STCratingsofcommonbuildingmaterials
 Theend