i COMPENDIUM OF MATERIALS I FORNOISECONTROL • 1 I ! ! COMPENDIUM OF MATERIALS FOR NOISE CONTROL ' , Work performed by the Illinois Institute o/Technology Research Institute, Chicago, Ill. Contract No. HSM 99-72-99 U.S, DEPARTMENT OF HI_ALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFAIIE Public Health Service Center for Disuse Control National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health " Division of Laboratories and Criteria Development Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 June 1975 For title by the attplrlhllndlnl of Do_t._,_enllt. UJ* Onvlmmlnl PtIfllln| OitJ©l t Wmlhl.141tm. D.C. Z0402 .... ..................... ........................ i I The contents ofthis report are reproduced herein as received from the contractor, except for some edi- torial and technical changes. The opinions, findings, I and conclusions expressed are those of the contrac. tor and not neeese_rily those of NIOSH. Mention of company or product names is not to be consld- 'ered as an endorsement byNIOSH. The contractor reported the data as received from the manufacturers and the accuracy of these data is not necessarily i supported by NIOSH. IITR Project Director: W. Ernest Purcell NIOSH Project O_]ner: Barry L. Lempert who provided substantive editorial and technical input to this compendium, i HEW Publication No. (NIOSH) 75--165 ii ........................... , ........ •....... ..... • _ L k • • I ! II _/ FOREWORD J The National Institute far Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in 1972 transmitted to the Department of Labor a recommended Federal standard for occupational noise exposure including the criteria upon which the recommendation was based. The recommended standard included admin- istrative and engineering noise control specifications necessary to reduce noise levels. At that time, only a few professional and trade journals were concerned specifically with noise control and a suitable compendium of noise control product specifications was not available. This compendium of commercial noise-reduction materials aids in solving industrial noise control problems and is designed for purchasers of noise control materials. It can be used to determine what industrial ._oise control materials are available, their char- nctaristicsp and sources of supply. Tbe information contained in this doeumcet, when utilized by those concerned with occupational noise, should serve to contribute to a quieter : industrial environment. I ' John F. Finldea, M.D. l Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health iii PREFACE NIOSH developed this compendium of available, commercial noise- reduction materiels as a contribution to englnecring solutions for industrial noise control problems. The compendium is designed for use by those select- ing materials to effect noise control. It can be used to determine availability, characteristics, and sources of materials; especially those useful in industrial noise control, Included are data on both sound absorption end transmission loss of noise control materials as well as a general and technical description of the uses and limitations of these materials. Similar comprehensive lists of noise control product specifications are nat provided by trade and professional journals; however, several existing publication_ do provide lists of manufacturers who are potential sources of such specifications, The primary sources used te construct our list of manu- facturers were "Buyer's Guide," Sound and Vibration (July and August, 1972), the Riverbank Acoustical Laboratory client list, Handbook o/Noise Control (Harris, 1957), Noise and Vibration Control (Beranek, 1971), "A Guide to Airborne, Impact and Structure Borne Noise" (HUD, 1967), "The Construction Specifier," "Materials Research and Standards," Dun and Brad. street Million Dollar Directory (1971), Standard and Pear's Register (lfi72), and Moody's Industrial Manual (1972), :_ From the list of manufacturers of noise control products, .923 companies ._ weresentquestionnair(OesMB No. fi8-$72182)along, with31 relatedlab- .:! oratories and special organizations. Product date were solicited and usually received in the form of brochures, specification sheets, and acoustical test laboratory reports. Date for the compendium were provided by 213 manu- !.: lecturers. Many laboratories and special organizations, as well as some !_ companies, responded with generic data that was suitable fur use in the i: narrative portions of this document, Of the project specifications requested, .' only the unit cost information was insufficient for equitable delineation in i! the compendium. _'. Data are presented as received from the manufacturers and have not been verified by IITRI or NIOSH. Information about a product such as how it was tested and its temperature, relative humidity, and chemical ::_! limitations is presented in the footnotes at the and of each table. Far various reasons some items are presented with no acoustical data, but these items are included to maintain a broad coverage of available materials. The range of noise control materials that could be listed was essentially unlimited; however, it was decided that unit silencers, such as exhaust mumem or products specifically designed for vibration damping or vibration isolation, were outside the scope of this compendium. The date tables of noise control product specifications comprise the principal content of the compendium. The narrative aestions provide basic information on the usa of noise control materials and nomenclature used in current standard laboratory teat procedures, This book is not intended as a noise control manual; however, the pertinent equations and noise control methodology included will benefit those who may not be familiar with noise control. The compendium will provide engineers, architects, acoustical can- sultants, and others with a ready reference of useful noise control materials. !I J J • ! ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The diligence and attention to detail by Dr. Pr_knsh D, Dssai of IITRI in the initisl preparation of the deta tables and the technical asslst._ncn of _' Mary Sims, also of IITRI, are appreciated. f. _! NIOSH expresses sincere thanks to Raymond D. Berendt, NationJd !i Bureau of Standards; Robert D. Bruce, Bolt Bersnek and Newman, Ins,; _i! Dr. Franklin D. Hart, North Carolina State University; Dr, Elmer L, Hixoa, _i_ University of Texas; Herbert H. Jones. Central Missouri State University; and Dr. Roger L. Kerlin and Dr. Paul L. Michael, Pennsylvania State Uni- versity; for their expeditious reviews and comments. Also, NIOSH is gratez'ulto the Bruel and Kjacr Company for portal.ion to reprint their microphone graphs, to EDN Magazine /or Figure I-1 de. picting the frequency ranges/or some common items, and to the Acouatlcal and Insulating Materials Association (AIMA) for providing tha absorption information an the many general building materials shown in Data Table 47, The illustrations in the data table guides are from the many photo_'rapl_ *_ provided in manut'actursrs' brochures. Specific credit for thssv illustrations ie given at the beginning of Section VL ,i % kl_! i vii i¸_! _ ABSTRACT This compendium of availeble commercial, noise-reduction materials was developed for use by plant engineers, industrial hygienists, acoustical con- sultants, and others engaged in noise control. It can be used to determine the availability of noise control materials, the cl|aracterlstics and specifics- tions of the mete.rials, and their supply sources. Also included are data on both sound absorption and transmission loss of materials and a general and technical description of the uses and limitations of the materials listed. ix CONTENTS • SECTION PAGE Foreword .................................................................................................. _i -. Preface .................................................................................................... v Acknowledgmeat._ .................................................................................. vii Abstract .................................................................................................. ix I--ELEMENTS OF SOUND, SOUND MEASUREMENT, AND CONTROL ................ :.................................................. :............... 1 1-1 -- Introduction ................................................................................ 1 I-2 -- Some Basic Concepts .................................................................. 1 I-2,1 -- Terminology and Definitions ...................................... 1 I-2.1.1 -- Unite of Sound Measurement ................... 3 I-2.1,2-- Sound Intensity Level ............................... 4 I-2.1,3 -- Sound Pressure ........................................... 4 I-2.L4 -- Sound Power ............................................... 5 I-2.1.5-- Comblning Decibels ................................... 7 I-2.1.6-- Sound Pressure Weighting and Filtering.. 9 [-2.2--Instruments for Noise Messuremente ....................... 11 I-2.2.1 -- Microphones ............................................... 11 I-2.2.2-- Sound Level Meters ................................... 14 I-2.2.3 -- Calibration of Sound Level Meters .......... 15 I-2.2.4 -- Frequency Analyzers ................................ 15 I-2.3 -- Methods of Noise Control ........................................... 16 I-3 -- Measurement of Material Noise-Reduction Properties ........... 19 I-3.1-- Absorption (Random Incidence Coemcients)-- re ASTM C423.66 ................................................ 19 I-3.l.1 --Test Method ...............................................