Acoustic

Chapter 4 – Sound reduction through partition and

wall
Week 5
Lectures 3

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 Chapter4
Sound reduction through partition and
Table of Content wall
 1.1 Single plate case

 1.2 Double plate case with air gap

 1.3 Two layer plate

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 Transmission Loss (SRI)
Noise may be controlled by modification of the source of
sound, the transmission path of the sound, or the receiver of
the sound. The transmission of sound (SRI) is considered,
along with some techniques for controlling the level of
sound transmitted.
The transmission loss expresses
the sound power transmission
coefficient in decibel units:

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1.1Single plate case
One of the more important problems in noise control is the
determination of the energy transmitted through a wall

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1.1Single plate case
One procedure for noise control is to provide an acoustic
barrier or wall to reduce the transmission of sound. For design
purposes, one must be able to predict the transmission loss
for the wall over a wide range of frequencies
We note that there are three
general regions of behavior for
the wall or panel:
(a) Region I: stiffness-controlled region
(b) Region II: mass-controlled region
(c) Region III: wave-coincidence
region (damping-controlled region)

f11 is the resonance frequency and fc is the critical frequency

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1.1Single plate case
Region I: Stiffness-Controlled Region
At low frequencies, the wall or panel vibrates as a whole,
and sound transmission through the panel is determined
primarily by the stiffness of the panel.
The sound power transmission coefficient for normal
incidence may be determined

CS : mechanical compliance per unit area

ρ0: density of air E
c: speed of sound within the wall c 

E: Young modulus and ρ the density of the material
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respectively
1.1Single plate case
1- The mechanical Compliance CS for rectangular panel is
presented by:

The quantities a and b are the width and height of the panel;
h is the thickness of the panel; and E and σ are the Young’s
modulus and Poisson’s ratio for the panel material,
respectively

2- The mechanical Compliance CS for circular panel with

diameter D

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1.1Single plate case
The final expression for the transmission loss for Region I,
the stiffness controlled region:

Where TLn is:

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Resonant Frequency
As the frequency of the incident wave is increased, the plate
will resonate at a series of frequencies, called the resonant
frequencies. The lowest resonant frequency marks the
transition between Region I and Region II behavior.
The resonant frequencies are a function of the plate
dimensions. For a rectangular plate having dimensions a b
h thick, the resonant frequencies are given by the following
expression

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Resonant Frequency
The factors m and n are integers, 1; 2; 3; . .
The quantity cL is the speed of longitudinal sound waves in
the solid panel material:

The quantity ρw is the density of the panel material.

The fundamental resonant frequency for a circular plate

with diameter D is given

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1.1Single plate case
Region 2: Mass-Controlled Region
For frequencies higher than the first resonant frequency, the
transmission loss of the panel is controlled by the mass of
the panel and is independent of the stiffness of the panel.
The sound power transmission coefficient for normal
incidence is given

The quantity MS is called the surface mass, or the panel

mass per unit surface area:
The quantity ρw is the density of the wall or panel, and ρ 1
and c1 are the density and speed of sound in the air around
11the panel
1.1Single plate case
Region 2: Mass-Controlled Region
The transmission loss for normal incidence is related to the
sound power transmission coefficient for normal incidence:

For random incidence (field incidence), it has been found

experimentally that the transmission loss for the mass-
controlled region is related to TLn by the following
expression

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Critical Frequency
The critical point corresponds to the transition from
Region II behavior to Region III behavior.
The critical frequency (or wave coincidence frequency) is
given by the following expression

fc is a function of the physical properties of the panel and

the sonic velocity (c) in the air around the panel

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1.1Single plate case
Region 3: Damping-Controlled Region
For frequencies above the critical frequency, the
transmission loss is strongly dependent on the frequency of
the incident sound waves and the internal damping of the
panel material.
The transmission loss in the damping controlled region:

The quantity TLn( fc) is the transmission loss for normal

incidence at the critical frequency:

14 Ƞ is the damping coefficient for the panel material

Example

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Example

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Example

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Example

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1.2 Double plate case with air gap
• The double-wall construction, consisting of two panels
separated by an air space, is often used as a barrier to
reduce noise transmission.

The overall transmission loss is

influenced by the air mass in the
space, in addition to the effect of the
transmission loss for each separate
panel. The behavior of the TL curve
for the composite wall may
be divided into three regime

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1.2 Double plate case with air gap
Regime A, the low-frequency regime, occurs for closely
spaced panels. When the two panels are placed very close
together, the panels act as one unit, as far as the sound
transmission is concerned. The air space between the panels
has a negligible effect. This behavior occurs for the
frequency range, as follows:

The density and speed of sound are the values for the air
around the panel
If the frequency is lower then the minimum frequency, the
two panels behaves independently.
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1.2 Double plate case with air gap
Regime A,
The frequency fo is the resonant frequency of the two
panels coupled by the air space. This frequency is given by
the following:

The quantities MS1 and MS2 are the specific mass for panels
1 and 2, respectively. The quantity d is the spacing between
the panels.
The transmission loss for Regime A is given by the following:

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1.2 Double plate case with air gap
Regime B,
This regime occurs for the frequency range, as follows:

The transmission loss in Regime B is given by the following:

The quantities TL1 and TL2 are the transmission loss values
for each of the panels acting alone.

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1.2 Double plate case with air gap
Regime C,
The air space between the panels acts as a small ‘‘room.’’
This behavior occurs for the frequency range,

The transmission loss in Regime C is given by:

The quantity α is the surface absorption coefficient for the

panels.

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1.2 Double plate case with air gap
Example

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1.2 Double plate case with air gap
Example

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1.2 Double plate case with air gap
Example

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1.2 Double plate case with air gap
Example

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1.3 Tow layer plate
Panels composed of two or more solid layers are often used
as partitions for enclosures and other acoustic structures. If
the layers are bonded at the interface with no air space,
then the composite panel bends about an overall neutral
axis. If we let be the distance from the interface to the
overall neutral axis, positive toward material 1 side, we
may find the quantity in terms of the properties of the
individual layers:

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1.3 Tow layer plate

The transmission loss for Region II, the mass-controlled

region, may be determined

The specific mass for the layered panel is given by the

following

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1.3 Tow layer plate
The critical or wave coincidence frequency for the layered
panel may be found from the following expression:

The quantity c is the speed of sound in the air around the

panel, and B is the flexural rigidity of the panel, given by the
following expression

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1.3 Tow layer plate
When the frequency f exceeds fc, the transmission loss is
given by:

Ƞ is given by:

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1.3 Tow layer plate
Example

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1.3 Tow layer plate
Example

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1.3 Tow layer plate
Example

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1.3 Tow layer plate
Example

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