DETERMINATION OF SOUND TRANSMISSION LOSS IN LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE WALLS AND MODELING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

In this paper, analysis of sound transmission losses through lightweight concrete walls was conducted against the high way trafic noises. The walls are generally used for thermal insulation purposes in Turkey. Sound transmission was modeled using ANN. Input parameters frequency, density of lightweight concrete wall and thickness of lightweight concrete wall structure (f, M, d2) and output parameter TS were described. When the outcomes of the TS analysis and those of ANN modeling are summarized together; Sound transmission losses improve with higher frequencies, higher wall densities and increased wall cross sections. Regardless of sufficient thermal insulation of single layered lightweight concrete walls as stipulated by the Turkey Institute of Standards (TSE 825), the wall cross sections were found to be insufficient in terms of sound transmission. Beside thermal insulation of the single layered lightweight concrete walls’ regulations, it was found with this study that, it is also necessary to analyze sound transmission lossess, after which the wall cross sections should be sized.