Mayr A., Gibbs B., Fischer H.

Vibration sources like pumps, motors, sanitary installations, etc., in addition of being airborne sound sources, are also structure-borne sound sources and in many cases, the sound levels in adjacent rooms are mostly dominated by the structure-borne source components. A proposal to predict the structure-borne sound transmissions in buildings is given in Part 5 of the new standard series EN 12354. The source data for this prediction model is required to be on a power basis. Recently, a test procedure has been developed based on the reception plate method. The principle of the method is that the total structure-borne power from the source under test can be obtained indirectly, as a reception plate power, through measurement of the spatial average velocity of a plate attached to the source. It also has been demonstrated that a prediction of the resultant sound pressure level in buildings is possible using the reception plate power as input data. This paper considers the practical application of this method for a wide range of sources, including heating boilers, water-hammers, footfalls on lightweight staircases, and sanitary appliances. It is shown that although the present method is confined to heavyweight building elements of low receiver mobility, it is appropriate for many mechanical installations.