A Vibrations Approach to Determining Batch-To-Batch Changes in Poured Gypsum Used in Flooring Systems

An average human spends about 87% of their time indoors so it is very important to make this a comfortable experience. The noise coming from upstairs as people walk have always been a problem for the downstairs residents. The (Impact Insulation Class) IIC rating is used to characterize the transmission loss in the floor/ceiling assembly but designers run into problems when characterizing a frequency based spectrum with a single curve. The individual parts that make up the assembly should be studied to predict field performance. Gypsum panels are a crucial part of this assembly. The field performance of gypsum panels have several manufacturing related uncertainties. The focus of this paper is to characterize gypsum panels that are used in the floor/ceiling assembly using their natural frequencies and loss factors for first two modes to develop quality control measures for the assembly line. This characterization would help the gypsum manufacturer predict the field performance. The comparison for natural frequencies and loss factors for seventeen gypsum panels have been presented and it has been shown that this methodology can be used to control the quality of panels during the manufacturing process.