Sound transmission analysis of various lightweight wall panels

Demands of lightweight wall panels and acoustical privacy in recent years have accelerated the incorporation of wall panels in the modern building element constructions. Lightweight wall panels are based on multi-layered structures which are a combination of gypsum board, glass wool/mineral wool, resilient steel channels and staggered wood studs used for inter-dwelling walls in modern buildings. The objective of this paper is to investigate the implementation of different types of combination to improve the sound insulation of sandwich constructions from above materials. The Sound Transmission Class (STC) characteristics of panel constructions with various combinations have been investigated. The measurements have been performed in the sound transmission suite of the CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, India according to ISO 10140 and ASTM 90. This paper presents the STC value of 20 samples tested in systematic evaluation for sound transmission through different sandwich structures with a frequency range of 50–6300 Hz with STC varying 46–59. As low frequency sound is the common cause for noise, the sound transmission measurements have been done on frequencies as low as 50 Hz. This work will help the noise control engineers, builders, designers, acoustic consultants, and residents/consumers to select construction suitable for wall panels to use in buildings.