Building acoustics measurements are used to evaluate the acoustic performance of buildings and their components. These measurements are used to determine the sound insulation and sound absorption properties of walls, floors, ceilings, doors, windows, and other building elements. The measurements are usually carried out in accordance with international standards such as ISO 16283.
The equipment needed for building acoustics measurements depends on the type of measurement being carried out. Some of the common equipment used for building acoustics measurements include sound level meters, microphones, loudspeakers, and signal generators. The equipment used for measuring sound insulation properties of building elements includes tapping machines, impact sources, and noise generators.
Together with our partner HBK, AE has developed the HBK 2755 Smart Power Amplifier and the OmniPower Sound Source Type 4292-L which are a perfect match with the HBK 2255 Sound Level Meter and the Building Acoustics Partner software. Together these can handle most sound insulation and reverberation time measurement tasks.
For the most challenging sound insulation measurements, new methods as described in ISO 18233 may be necessary. These methods are fully supported by our DIRAC software together with the hardware components mentioned above.
Another interesting application of DIRAC is in the measurement of impact noise insulation according to ISO 16283, using a rubber impact ball. Tapping machines are widely used for impact noise insulation measurements, but they give far less reliable results than rubber ball measurements, as evidenced in this report.