Sound insulation of a single finite panel—Comparison, validation, and parametric studies

Abstract

Sound transmission characteristics of a single finite panel is of significant value for both theoretical development and engineering application in building acoustics. Extensive studies and numerous models have been developed to study the sound transmission loss behavior of a single panel over the past decades. Though most of them have been validated separately with specific test results in their developing phases, evidences showed that considerable discrepancy exit from one model to another. Numerous comparisons among different prediction models have been presented in the literature. However, quantitative comparisons among them is still lacking. To guide the design of real practice, an impartial evidence of the applicability and accuracy of different models is highly desired. For this purpose, a quantitative comparison among more than ten widely adopted existing models are presented in this study. Test results collected from different labs for different materials, that found in the literature and conducted by the authors as well, are provided first to validate different models for different scenarios. Comprehensive parametric studies are then conducted to investigate the effects of different design parameters, such as boundary conditions, damping factor, panel dimension, and aspect ratio, on the sound transmission loss of a single panel.Sound transmission characteristics of a single finite panel is of significant value for both theoretical development and engineering application in building acoustics. Extensive studies and numerous models have been developed to study the sound transmission loss behavior of a single panel over the past decades. Though most of them have been validated separately with specific test results in their developing phases, evidences showed that considerable discrepancy exit from one model to another. Numerous comparisons among different prediction models have been presented in the literature. However, quantitative comparisons among them is still lacking. To guide the design of real practice, an impartial evidence of the applicability and accuracy of different models is highly desired. For this purpose, a quantitative comparison among more than ten widely adopted existing models are presented in this study. Test results collected from different labs for different materials, that found in the literature and conduct...