Sound insulation provided by single and double panel walls—a comparison of analytical solutions versus experimental results

The predicted values for acoustic insulation of single and double panel walls, using analytical models previously developed by the authors, are compared with experimental findings. The analytical method used fully takes into account the coupling between the air and the solid panels, and there is no restriction on their thickness, as the Kirchhoff or Mindlin approaches require. The laboratory experiments involved placing test specimens between standard chambers. Results are presented for panels made of glass, concrete and steel. From the results we can conclude that the predictive analytical solutions are in good agreement with the experimental results, except when the area of the panels is very small and the frequencies are very low. At low frequencies, the experimental results appear to be significantly affected by the resonance effects associated with the creation of stationary waves within the acoustic chambers, and the vibration modes introduced into the dynamic system by the restriction on the movement of the panel along its boundary.