TABLE OF CONTENTS Measurements generally fall into three categories: laboratory measurements that provide information at the design stage, field measurements that demonstrate whether the required sound insulation has been achieved in a building, and field measurements that help an engineer solve sound insulation problems in existing buildings.
For many buildings the acoustic requirements are described in building regulations; hence repeatability, reproducibility, and relevance (i.e. the link between the measured sound insulation and the satisfaction of the building occupants) are particularly important for airborne and impact sound insulation. Laboratory measurements of the acoustic properties of materials and building elements (e.g. walls, floors, windows, doors) are primarily used for comparing products and calculating the sound insulation in situ. Measurements of material properties are particularly useful in assessing whether one material in the construction could be substituted for a different one, and for use in prediction models.
This chapter gives an overview of measurements that are relevant to sound insulation, outlining the basic principles alongside the underlying assumptions or limitations. For all procedural aspects of measurements, requirements on laboratory facilities and test elements, and calculation of single-number quantities the reader is referred to the relevant National or International Standards. In this chapter the latter are generally referred to as the 'relevant Standard' with a reference to the Standard that was current at the time of writing.
