Impact Sound Insulation
What is impact sound or impact improvement?
Impacts on an object’s surface can set up vibrations within that object and when these vibrations are radiated to the air, they produce sound waves. In the case of a building structure this can mean footfall on the floor above can radiate sound into the room below. Measuring the impact improvement of a floor covering will give a measure of how much less the impact will radiate as sound into the room below when a particular floor covering is used. We measure impact improvement in our large reverberation room.
Samples are categorised into three categories: Category I: Flexible samples (e.g. carpet); Category II: Rigid samples (e.g. timber flooring) and Category III: Stretchy samples.
What is expected of you?
Written descriptions of the samples must be provided prior to testing including mass per unit area and thickness of the sample (preferably prior to quotation); a test report cannot be provided without this information. For Category I samples, you can usually send the sample to us and we will install it for testing when the large reverberation room is available for use. For Category II samples it is usually best for the company to install the sample.
FAQs
What do the results look like?
The results will be presented as part of a complete report. A single figure weighted impact improvement value (ΔLW) will be calculated. The reduction values for each 1/3rd octave value will also be calculated. These results will be presented in a manner accordant with the BS EN ISO 717-2:2021 standard; a specimen results sheet is available. Please note the results are not pass/fail criterion.
What size of sample should I provide?
For Category I materials, three samples, each 0.5m × 1.0m are are required.
For Category II materials, an area of 10 m2 is required, approximately 3.2m × 3.2m.
What do our customers most often forget when preparing for testing at the laboratory?
If the sample needs to be tested with an underlay don’t forget to include three 0.5m × 1.0m samples of this too.
How long is each test?
The first test is the longest because reverberation times, the background, and bare floor measurements must be made. After calibration the first test should take 20-30mins and subsequent tests should take 15-20mins.
How many tests can I do in a day?
Provided that installation is quick, it’s possible to carry many tests in a day. It’s common to run 15 testing in a day.
The first test of each day includes calibration and set up of equipment therefore subsequent tests on the same day are cheaper than then first.
When will I get the report? When can I get the results?
We can provide preliminary results on the day of test. The test report will follow in 2-4 weeks after test completion, depending on our workload and the complexity of the test carried out.
Danny Wong-McSweeney
Test Lab Manager
t: +44 (0)161 295 2807 // 07811 779 343
e: d.b.c.wong-mcsweeney@salford.ac.uk