A relation between the surface temperature of a polyvinyl chloride flooring material and an impact sound generated therefrom

The sound insulation performance of the floor surface in an apartment house may be affected by the temperature. For example, the floor surface is sometimes heated due to solar radiation in the case of a room having a large glass surface. If the floor surface includes a flooring material finished with a vinyl material, the hardness of the flooring material may vary depending on the surface temperature of the material. This may cause variation in the impact sound generated by an impact source on the floor surface.This study is intended to clarify an influence of the variation in the surface temperature of a flooring material finished with polyvinyl chloride tiles on the impact sound generated by a tapping machine. The equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure level was measured in a sound source room and a sound receiving room. The surface temperature of a flooring material set on the floor surface of the sound source room was varied using a rubber heater the temperature of which is controllable. A tapping machine was used for generating an impact sound when the surface temperature attains a predetermined temperature. As a result of the experiment, the equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure level measured in the sound source room decreased with increasing surface temperature of the flooring material around 2000 Hz and around 4000 Hz although no obvious tendency was observed at 250 Hz or less. In contrast, a tendency observed from values measured in the sound receiving room was not as obvious as that observed in the sound source room.