Effects of finishing materials in wall and ceiling on

floor impact sound

Inho KIM1; Jongkwan RYU2; Jongcheol GO3

1,3 POSCO E&C, Korea

2 Jeonnam University, Korea

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effects of finishing materials in wall and ceiling on floor impact sound. Floor

impact sound measurements with and without several finishing materials in wall and ceiling were conducted

using heavy and light weight impact source in a test-building. The gypsum boards bonded by glue, resilient

channel, damping sheet or steel plate were installed in the wall. In the ceiling, perforated gypsum boards with

and without sound absorption sheet were suspended by steel hangers. Results showed that the gypsum board

bonded by resilient channel reduced by 4~5 dB in single number quantity for heavy-weight and 4~6 dB for

light-weight floor impact sound. The suspended ceiling with the perforated gypsum boards and sound

absorption sheet resulted in enhancement of 1~4 dB in single number quantity for heavy-weight and 7 dB for

light-weight floor impact sound.

Keywords: Floor impact sound, Finishing material, Resilient channel, Perforated gypsum boards

I-INCE Classification of Subjects Number(s): 51.5

1. INTRODUCTION

Floor impact sound in a building is largely affected by various building factors, which are structure,

isolation material for floating floor, finishing material and so on. Impact on floor makes vibration and

the vibration energy transmits to the slab and wall, and consequently emits the sound. Therefore,

finishing treatment in wall and ceiling is important to control floor impact sound. Few studies (1-3)

reported that there is significant effect of type of finishing treatment in wall or ceiling on floor impact

sound. Especially, it was reported that perforated component of ceiling finishing such as molding in

side and vertical panel of coffered parts decreased floor impact sound level (1).

In this study, effect of wall and ceiling finishing material on floor impact sound was investigated.

Major materials consisting of wall and ceiling finishing were resilient channel for wall and

perforated gypsum board for ceiling. Floor impact sound measurements for several finishing

materials in wall and ceiling were conducted using heavy and light-weight floor impact sound sources

in a test building, which is constructed with reinforced concrete. Floor impact sound levels after

installing finishing material were compared with those of existing wall for wall and general gypsum

board for ceiling.

2. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

2.1 Measurement set up

Floor impact sound measurements were conducted in a test building (structure: box-frame

constructed with reinforced concrete, slab thickness: 120 mm, wall thickness: 150 mm, floor area:

4.5x5.8 m2). The measurements were based on standardized methods (4-6) using bang machine and

impact ball for heavy-weight impact source and tapping machine for light-weight impact source. All

measurements were made in the condition of bare slab without finishing material above structural slab.

1 kiminho@poscoenc.com 2 jkryu@jnu.ac.kr 3 90water@poscoenc.com

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2.2 Finishing materials in wall

All of five finishing materials were installed in existing wall for the floor impact sound

measurement as shown in Figure 1. Surface material of all specimens was gypsum board with 9.5 mm

thickness. First, gypsum board were attached in the wall using gypsum board glue (A-structure).

Resilient channel was also applied with gypsum board (B-structure). C-structure used resilient channel,

gypsum board, damping sheet, and gypsum board. D-structure consists of resilient channel, damping

sheet, and gypsum board. In the D-structure, damping sheet was partially attached only in the part of

resilient channel. Steel plate with 9 mm thickness was also installed with gypsum board and glue

(E-structure).

2.3 Finishing materials in ceiling

In the ceiling, perforated or general gypsum boards (thickness: 12.5 mm) with and without sound

absorption sheet (thickness: 5 mm) were suspended by steel hangers. As shown in Figure 2, all ceiling

structures has coffered parts. This detail using general gypsum boards is being used in general

apartment building in Korea. Thickness of air-space between slab and gypsum board was 230 mm and

80 mm in the side and center area of coffered part, respectively as shown in Figure 2. Perforated

gypsum boards has holes with 12 mm diameter, and percentage of perforated area was 13 %.

As shown in Figure 3, all of four ceiling structures were installed below structural slab. Perforated

gypsum board with absorption sheet on gypsum board was installed for A-structure. In the B-structure,

perforated gypsum board with absorption sheet under gypsum board was constructed. C-structure has

the perforated gypsum board without absorption sheet. In addition, general gypsum board without

absorption sheet was also installed for comparing with the others (D-structure).

Figure 1 – Installation of finishing materials in wall; GB: gypsum board, RC: Resilient channel, DS:

Damping sheet

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Figure 2 – Plan and section of finishing in ceiling parts and perforated gypsum board

Figure 3 – Installation of finishing materials in ceiling; GB: gypsum board

3. RESULTS

3.1 Effects of finishing materials in wall

Figure 4 shows reduced SPL in octave band and single number quantity (SNQ, L’i,Fmax,AW) [7] due to

installation of wall finishing material for heavy-weight floor impact sound. For the bang machine,

results show that B and C structure had 5 dB reduction in SNQ. It was also shown that A-structure

reduced by 3 dB in SNQ. There was no reduction in SNQ for structure-D and E. Especially, structure-E

increased by 1 dB in SNQ. Structure-A, B and C had SPL reduction in all octave bands. In particular, B

and C structure had most reduction in 32 Hz octave band. Structure-C among the five specimen had

most strong effect on SPL in all octave band. In the case of impact ball, results show that B and

C-structure had 4 dB reduction in SNQ. It was also shown that A and D-structure reduced by 2 dB in

SNQ. There are little reduction in SNQ for structure E. Structure-B and C had SPL reduction in all

octave bands. In addition, B and C structure had most reduction in 32 Hz octave band.

Figure 5 shows reduced SPL in octave band and single number quantity (SNQ, L’n,AW) [8] due to

installation of wall finishing material for light-weight floor impact sound. Results show that B, C, and D

structure had 4~6 dB reduction in SNQ. It was shown that A-structure decreased by 1 dB in SNQ. There was

no reduction in SNQ for structure E. All structure except structure-E had SPL reduction in all octave bands

except for 63 Hz octave band. Structure-C among the five specimen had most strong effect on SPL in all

octave band for 63 Hz octave band.

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Figure 4 – Reduced SPL due to wall finishing material (SPL for existing wall-SPL for finishing material) for

bang machine (left) and impact ball (right) ; GB: Gypsum Board, RC: Resilient Channel, DS: Damping

Sheet; Black box indicates reduced SPL in single number quantity (L’i,Fmax,AW)

Figure 5– Reduced SPL due to wall finishing material (SPL for existing wall-SPL for finishing material) for

tapping machine (left) ; GB: Gypsum Board, RC: Resilient Channel, DS: Damping Sheet ; Black box

indicates reduced SPL in single number quantity (L’n,AW)

3.2 Effects of finishing materials in ceiling

Figure 6 indicates reduced SPL in octave band due to installation of ceiling finishing material

including single number quantity (SNQ, L’i,Fmax,AW) in black box for heavy-weight floor impact sound.

For the bang machine, results show that structure-A had 2 dB reduction in SNQ. It was also shown that

B and C structure decreased by 1 dB in SNQ. Structure-A had SPL reduction in all octave bands and

especially large reduction in 125-500 Hz octave bands. B structure had also SPL reduction in 125-500

Hz octave bands. In the case of structure-C, there was SPL reduction in 32 Hz band, but no effect above

63 Hz band. In particular, SPL increased by 5 dB for the structure-C. For the impact ball, structure-A

and B had 2~3 dB reduction in SNQ, but structure-C increased by 1 dB in SNQ. In the 125~500 Hz

bands, there were large SPL reductions for the structure A and B. Structure-C had good effect only in

32 Hz band, and increased by 5 dB in 500 Hz band.

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Figure 7 shows reduced SPL in octave band due to installation of ceiling finishing material including

single number quantity (SNQ, L’n,AW) in black box for light-weight floor impact sound. Results show that A

and B structure had 1 dB reduction in SNQ. It was shown that C-structure increased by 5 dB in SNQ. A and B

structure had SPL reduction in all octave bands and large effect in 125 and 250 Hz band. For structure-C, SPL

increased by 5 dB in 500 and 1k Hz octave bands.

Figure 6 – Reduced SPL due to ceiling finishing material (SPL for general gypsum board-SPL for perforated

gypsum board) for bang machine (left) and impact ball (right) ; AS: Absorption Sheet, PGB: Perforated

Gypsum Board); Black box indicates reduced SPL in single number quantity (L’i,Fmax,AW)

Figure 7 – Reduced SPL due to ceiling finishing material (SPL for general gypsum board-SPL for perforated

gypsum board) for tapping machine ; AS: Absorption Sheet, PGB: Perforated Gypsum Board); Black box

indicates reduced SPL in single number quantity (L’n,AW)

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4. SUMMARY

In this study, several finishing treatments in the wall and ceiling of room were tested in terms of

floor impacts sound. For the wall finishing, resilient channel has good effects on floor impact sound.

The wall finishing consisting of resilient channel and gypsum board decreased by 4~5 dB in single

number quantity for heavy-weight and 4~6 dB for light-weight floor impact sound. In the case of

ceiling finishing, the perforated gypsum boards with absorption sheet showed 1~4 dB and 7 dB lower

single number quantity for heavy and light-weight floor impact sound, respectively than those for

general gypsum board.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research was supported by a grant(16RERP-B082204-03) from Residential Environment

Research Program funded by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korean government.

REFERENCES

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3. Architectural institute of Japan, “Isolation design of floor impact sound in building”. Gibodo Press,

63-66, (2009)

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Using Standard Heavy Impact Sources (Japanese Industrial Standards, Tokyo, Japan), (2000)

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Standardization) Geneva, Switzerland, (1998)

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Elements. Part 2: Floor Impact Sound Insulation Against Standard Heavy Impact Source (Korean

Standards, Seoul, Korea), (2007)

8. KS F 2863-1, Rating of Floor Impact Sound Insulation for Impact Source in Buildings and of Building

Elements. Part 2: Floor Impact Sound Insulation Against Standard Light Impact Source (Korean

Standards, Seoul, Korea), (2002)

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