SOUND INSULATION OF WALLS IN PUBLIC DWELLINGS

Abstract

Acoustical comfort and privacy are important factors governing the design of interior spaces within buildings. Poor indoor sound insulation of building elements not only reduces speech intelligibility and cause physiological discomfort but also result in the loss of privacy. Such problems may be more acute in high-rise residential dwellings where the individual units are spaced much closer together. In this context, the dissertation aims to provide a comprehensive field study and comparison of the airborne sound insulation performance of walls in public residential apartments which essentially constitute a large proportion of residential buildings in Singapore. Through the development of knowledge in this area where the relevant studies available locally are not yet extensive, adequate recommendations can be provided towards enhancing the acoustical performance of walls in public dwellings in the future. Field measurements of sound reduction tests based on the ISO 140-4 & 717-1 consisted of 4 samples on 4 different wall types each were conducted at three HDB dwellings of varying age. The results showed that both the 100mm precast concrete and the 120mm hollow block party walls achieved the highest sound reduction ratings followed by the 75mm precast concrete wall and the 100mm lightweight precast panel wall which was significantly weaker. In the main, this research revealed varied sound insulation in a single wall type and across different walls. Constraints of time and manpower also restricted the possibility of obtaining larger samples over a more detailed measurement schedule for analysis.