Vibration and Floor Impact Sound Isolation Performance in Bubble Deck Slab

Abstract

The bubble deck slab has been applied to various buildings due to many advantages including the slab load alleviation and structural stability. The bubble deck slab should not only ensure structural stability but also satisfy the performance standards of floor impact sound required legally to be applied to apartments. This study investigated the characteristics of reduction in vibration and floor impact sound in apartments where the bubble deck slab was applied. The measurement results of vibration characteristics showed that the bubble deck slab had a similar natural frequency with that of the solid slab from a frequency (each of 16.7 Hz and 11.1 Hz) where the first mode was formed but the vibration level of the bubble deck slab at the low frequency band (80 Hz or lower), which was affected by the heavy-weight impact sound, was relatively smaller than that of the solid slab. The bubble deck slab showed a comparable or better performance in the insulation of the floor impact sound compared to that of the solid slab.