Numerical analyses of the sound transmission at low frequencies of a calibrated Insulating Glazing Unit

Abstract

The acoustic performances of building elements such as windows are carried out in laboratory according to standards. In addition to the high cost of the experimental tests, the measurements at low frequencies face some difficulties such as the lack of reproducibility, the rooms’ modal behaviour effect and the diffuseness of the acoustic field. To separately study each source of deviation from the ideal experimental situation, four numerical configurations, based on experimental conditions, are proposed to characterize the transmission loss (TL) of an Insulation Glazing Unit (IGU) below 500 Hz. The effect of the emitting and receiving rooms with a comparison to the ideal configuration which has a free field on both sides of the IGU are investigated. The numerical model used for the IGU is calibrated from an Experimental Modal Analysis. As expected, TL results show that there is a significant effect of the modal behavior and the acoustic properties of the rooms at low frequencies. Numerical results are compared to those obtained from experimental tests and a good agreement in the all frequency range of interest is observed. In addition, parametric studies are carried out to investigate the influence of the variation of some properties of the studied structure such as the structural damping and the panel’s thickness.