Sound insulation
Sound insulation has a life cycle with three stages, and a page of this section owns each of them. An element (a wall build-up, a floating floor, a window) is first characterised in the laboratory, where suppressed flanking isolates its direct transmission. That laboratory data feeds a prediction of how a whole building will perform, flanking paths included. The finished building is then verified in the field, where the measured values carry the single-number ratings that regulations quote. Each stage answers a different question, and each has its own standards family. A fourth page, on dynamic stiffness, is not a stage of its own but the supporting material measurement that the prediction stage consumes.
Laboratory Insulation Measurement covers the first stage: the ISO 10140 sound reduction index and normalized impact level, the sound-intensity alternative of ISO 15186, the small-mock-up floor-covering improvement of ISO 16251-1 and laboratory flanking transmission per ISO 10848.
Predicting Sound Insulation (EN 12354) covers the second: the airborne and impact flanking models of EN 12354-1/2 with their junction vibration reduction indices, and the façade insulation and outdoor radiation of EN 12354-3/4. Its floating-floor improvement term consumes the dynamic stiffness measured per EN 29052-1, which is why that measurement page lives in this section.
Field Insulation Measurement and Ratings covers the third: field airborne, impact and façade insulation per ISO 16283-1/2/3, the weighted single-number ratings and spectrum adaptation terms of ISO 717-1/2, the ISO 12999-1 uncertainty that qualifies a rating, and the quick ISO 10052 survey method.
Two neighbouring sections complete the picture: the room-side quantities (reverberation time, absorption) live in Room acoustics, and the structure-borne noise of building equipment, predicted by the closely related EN 12354-5, lives in Structure-borne sources.
Pages in this section
Section titled “Pages in this section”- Field Insulation Measurement and Ratings: ISO 16283-1/2/3 measurement, ISO 717-1/2 ratings, ISO 12999-1 uncertainty and the ISO 10052 survey method.
- Laboratory Insulation Measurement: ISO 10140 characterisation, ISO 15186 intensity insulation, ISO 16251-1 floor coverings and ISO 10848 flanking.
- Predicting Sound Insulation (EN 12354): flanking transmission (EN 12354-1/2), façade insulation and outdoor radiation (EN 12354-3/4).
- Dynamic stiffness of resilient materials (EN 29052-1): the load-plate resonance measurement and the floating-floor natural frequency.