acoustical treatment

Residence
Submitted By Deepak Sardiwal

design Criteria
Allow for sufficient width for walls and sufficient depth for floor and ceilings in initial planning.

Provide clear construction drawings detailing junctions of walls, ceilings and floors. indicate where impact-rated wall systems are required. Design walls to be full height, to the underside of soffit or roof above Choose wall systems that are reliable and simple to build.

Design a break in the floor boards under the boundary walls of a unit. Develop alternative floor designs that are impact-rated and not reliant on carpet and underlay alone. Ensure discontinuities in walls and floor/ceilings can be maintained By dense plantation noise get absorbed upto a limit thus act as buffer.

Passive Absorption

When sound passes through an acoustically absorptive material like mineral wool insulation or acoustic foam, the sound waves are forced to change directions many times and travel great distances before the sound passes completely through the absorptive material. Each time a sound waves changes direction, a portion of the energy is absorbed by conversion to heat. When there is a reflective surface behind the absorber, (such as a wall) the sound which passes through the absorber will be reflected back and through the absorber once again. Absorbers work best when there is some sort of a reflective surface behind them. For some sounds (low frequency) an air gap is ideal between the absorber and the reflective surface or wall.

Barriers
A noise barrier can be constructed from almost any non porous material. Since sound is energy, an effective barrier must have enough mass (weight and density) and a low resonant frequency to stop (or reflect) this energy. As sound pressure levels increase so does the sound power (energy). High sound power levels will excite any surface they encounter causing the surface to vibrate at its resonant frequency which inevitably makes the walls shake. Low frequency sound contains more energy, because a larger volume of air is being displaced to produce the long wavelengths associated with bass and sub bass frequencies. These low frequency sounds easily excite most common building materials like wood and 12.5mm thick

plasterboard.

window
The ability of a window to reduce noise is dependent on the following elements
Frame design Glazing; Distance between glass panes

6mm float glass set in a non-sealed timber frame. The standard window, installed with little concern for acoustic design, does not generally have good airborne sound insulation Rw 15-20) due to poor sealing and the use of thin standard glass. Improved performance can be gained by adding thicker PVB laminated glass and installing better seals.

10.38mm PVB Laminated glass set in a sealed metal frame. Laminated glass performs slightly better than ordinary glass due to a PVB interlayer that helps reduce the passage of sound, but only at high frequencies. In most cases, thick aminated glass in conjunction with tight seals and a well manufactured and installed frame system ensures a good level of sound insulation (Rw 20-30). If the window needs to open, awning styles are preferred as they are able to achievea positive compression seal.

doors
When choosing a door to reduce noise, you should consider Door composition; The type of seals used Best practice design

door composition
Solid core doors are primarily for exterior use, and wherever increased sound, fire or thermal insulation is required. Generally, solid cores comprise of continuous block, stile and rail, mineral composition and particleboard.

Using a damping compound in the core, along with special stops, gaskets and thresholds at the perimeter can increase the sound insulation properties of a door. There are a number of core types and surface treatments, such as lead lining or copper shielding that can also increase acoustic performance.
When installing sound-rated doors in stud wall construction, a structural steel H-subframe is bolted to the floor and the underside of the floor above. This holds firm the door-set, as standard metal studs allow too much flexing.

Door seals
Installing sound-rated doors with acoustic seals around the head, jamb and foot should provide the necessary acoustic insulation to reduce external noise. The use of perimeter seals for doors reduces the potential for flanking noise through gaps around the doorframe. Acoustic seals do not provide suitable performance if they are not properly adjusted. Seals should be selected based on their performance and simplicity of use. They should be low-maintenance and have a long life. Consideration should be given to other seal performance requirements such as vermin-proofing, and resistance to fire, smoke, chemicals, weather and dust. Air grilles should not be installed in sound-rated doors.

45mm hollow core plywood door, set in a nonsealed frame.

Generally this standard door, installed with little concern for acoustic performance, does not have very high airborne sound nsulation (Rw 15-20). This is due to poor sealing and the use of an noninsulated hollow core. Improved performance can be gained by sealing the frame perimeter, and/or installing damping compound in the core, or a metal lining to the exterior faces

The sound insulation of floors refers to the ability of a floor system to reduce noise entering your residence from below and noise caused by movement such as walking.

To reduce noise in timber floors there are a number of things to consider

floor surface insulation between floor/ceiling ceiling material and thickness

resilient isolation of components

general consideration

Increasing the thickness of building materials and ensuring all gaps are sealed can help considerably with sound insulation. To improve sound insulation and decrease structure-borne noise in timber construction, it is best to isolate the building components from one another using resilient compounds (such as rubber or silicone), or detach/decouple the construction altogether in a suspended ceiling or floating floor construction. A floating floor is a method of construction where the floor sits on isolating components, resulting in a reduction of structure-borne noise transference. A suspended ceiling can also provide better reduction of structure-borne noise due to the decoupling of the construction. In these designs, the ceiling hangs from resilient hangers attached to the floor joists or concrete slab, allowing more space for services and sound insulation in the ceiling cavity.

Sound reduction performance can be slightly improved by: using an insulating material with thinner fibres; increasing the density of, and hence the number of fibres within a given material increasing the thickness of the absorbing material itself.

RESILIENT ISOLATION

The transference of structure-borne noise can be reduced by increasing the vibration isolation in a system. using a suitably soft connecting material such as rubber, neoprene or isolation springs between the building elements increasing the size of the air gap or cavity between the panels

introducing vibration isolated floors to adjacent rooms located on a common slab.