When mechanical equipment is fixed rigidly to a building floor slab or ceiling, the vibrations formed by the mechanical equipment are transmitted into the structure. These vibrations can travel in solid building elements such as structural columns, beams, and floor slabs which is described as structure-borne noise.
To help eradicate these problems, resilient mounts should be implemented to isolate the vibrating equipment (and anything rigidly connected to it) from the surrounding structure.
Vibration isolation involves installing vibrating equipment such as on resilient materials such as isolation pads or steel springs.
The target is to select an appropriate resilient material that, when loaded, will provide a system natural frequency, or resonant frequency, at least one-third of the lowest driving frequency of the equipment.
Acoustic separation is designed to reduce unwanted noise penetrating through walls from one room to another, in particular airborne noises such as conversations, television and music.
At Inspired Noise UK we can provide soundproofing wall systems that have been designed to offer the highest level of noise reduction coupled with ease of installation.
Sound insulated ceilings are used to improve the sound transmission Loss of the floor/ceiling system for airborne or floor impact-generated noise. An isolation clip or hanger can be used to support the steel grid and plasterboard ceiling. Isolation elements are typically fibreglass pads, rubber pads or, for lower frequency sound isolation, coiled springs. Like all isolated sound control assemblies, the mass of the system, the air space and insulation between layers, and the natural frequency of the isolator will determine the noise reduction. Ceiling isolation systems are often used in conjunction with floor isolation and sound-rated walls to achieve complete acoustical privacy.
Most of the above acoustic floor systems would also contribute to the improvement of airborne sound insulation. When installing a resilient floor treatment care should be taken not to bridge the layer by mechanically fixing (nails, screws) to the subfloor.