Correlations between standardised and real impact sound sources in lightweight wooden structures

Abstract

This study aimed to understand the correlation between standard impact sound sources and real impact sources in lightweight floor structures. Six real impact sources (adult walking, child running, child jumping on the floor, and three objects falling) were used to be compared with standard impact sources (i.e. tapping machine and impact ball). Measurements were conducted on a lightweight timber joist floor. Impact sound pressure levels (SPLs) produced by the standard impact sources were measured on the four floor structures with or without carpet tiles. For the real impact sources, two walkers wearing socks and slippers walked at different speeds (normal and fast) along three paths, while two children ran along the three paths and jumped at four positions. Also, the SPLs generated by dropped objects were measured at five positions. Seven standardised single-number quantities (SNQs) were calculated for the tapping machine and the impact ball, while three noise ratings (LAeq, LAFmax, and LN) were also computed from the sound recordings of the real impact sources. Both the tapping machine and the impact ball showed similar frequency characteristics with the real impact sources across all the floor structures. All the SNQs for the tapping machine and the impact ball were highly correlated with the energy-based noise ratings of the adult walking and little differences were found across walking speeds and footwear. Similar tendencies were observed from other real impact sources, indicating the high correlations between the standardised SNQs of the tapping machine and the impact ball and the noise ratings.