Sound transmission between partitioned contiguous enclosures

Abstract

By increasing the application of lightweight constructions, sound transmission between the adjacent enclosures becomes a more important consideration in designing new buildings. In this article, the parameters that may significantly affect the sound transmission level through a partition between two adjacent enclosures are investigated, i.e. geometrical dimensions, arrangement of enclosures, boundary conditions, multi-layered partitions, and framed (or reinforced) conditions of the partitions. For this purpose, sound transmission is modelled using the finite-element method. The obtained results from sound transmission using Perspex party walls with different width and boundary conditions are compared with those obtained from a double-layered wall with an air layer. The effects of an enclosure's arrangements and dimensions on sound transmission of the party walls are also studied. Using the cross-framed party wall causes more noise reduction than the double-layered party wall. The results also show that sound transmission between rooms with an asymmetric arrangement is less than that obtained from a symmetric configuration.