Basic study of practical prediction of sound insulation performance of double-glazed window

Abstract

Since double-glazed glasses have superior thermal insulation performance compared to single-glazed glasses, they are widely employed for windows in recent buildings. However, the double-glazed glasses used in general buildings have mass-air-mass resonance at around 200-400 Hz, and, at those frequencies, their sound reduction indices are often lower than that of single-glazed glasses that have the same weight. In designing an indoor acoustic environment, it is helpful to have a practical method to predict the sound reduction index of a double-glazed glass window, including the resonance. In this study, at first, measured values of actual double-glazed windows are compared with calculated values of the existing sound transmission theories for double plates and applicability of the theories to double-glazed windows are investigated. Next, in order to obtain a practical prediction of the sound reduction indices of double-glazed windows, some measured values of double-glazed windows are collected from a manufacturer's database and the characteristics of the sound reduction indices are discussed.