Variations in sound transmission loss through vertical mass-decoupled partitions installed with a comprehensive sample of resilient channels

Abstract

Resilient channels are commonly employed as a sound isolation treatment in building partition assemblies. Originally designed and patented as a crack-mitigation component in gypsum wallboard partition assemblies, the development and application of resilient channels as a mass-decoupling treatment for sound isolation in building partitions has achieved widespread acceptance in the building industry. Several recent laboratory sound transmission loss (STL) studies illustrate statistically significant variability in STL for steel-framed partitions. This experimental analysis attempts to more comprehensively characterize the variability in STL through mass-decoupled vertical partitions that employ steel resilient channels as a sound isolation treatment. Ten different models of resilient channels produced by five different manufacturers were tested with both damped and undamped panel configurations in a same-laboratory, same-series research program. Over 120 total tests were completed in this experimental study. The results of this study and recommendations for sound isolation design and specification are discussed.