Comparison of strategies for the experimental analysis of airborne sound insulation of building elements
Regular paper
ITeCons, Universidade de Coimbra
Monday 1 june, 2015, 17:40 - 18:00
Auditorium 2 (592)
Abstract:
The experimental assessment of the acoustic performance of materials and
construction elements is particularly relevant in the choice of system parts
in the development and characterization process of new solutions. Different
laboratory methodologies can be used for the analysis of airborne sound
insulation, using different sample sizes, laboratory equipment or facilities.
In an expedite manner, it is even possible to use an impedance tube to
determine the transmission loss of circular samples with reduced dimensions of
the materials to be characterized, and thus have a rough estimation of the
real behaviour of the solution. On the other hand, using larger laboratory
facilities, such as reverberant acoustical chambers, it is possible to
determine the airborne sound insulation of the samples with more realistic and
representative prototypes of the final elements. As is easily recognized, the
time spent and resources used in these larger scale tests are substantially
higher, although the acoustic behavior is closer to a real application. Thus,
it is intended, in this work, to compare different methodologies for
characterizing the airborne sound insulation of construction elements,
highlighting the main advantages and disadvantages of the various processes
and analyzing the main limitations detected.