Sound Transmission
Dear Gary: I guess the QuietZone Acoustic Wall Framing stud can be part of a system that reduces sound transmission between 70 to 85 percent as per Figure 2 on page 56 of Issue 49, but I question the “decoupling” aspect of one side of the wall to the other. The clips shown in the article photos couple the two wood sections together and transfer energy, granted less than a solid piece of wood, but the article goes on to describe other minor weak links that can cause problems of significance as well. But more so than that, the studs are connected to the top and bottom wood plates. If that doesn’t create a solid transmission conduit from one side of the wall to the other, than my logic is completely in error. Obviously building double walls and ceilings (floors are tougher what with gravity and all) that are completely seperate entities with air spaces between them are the better way to go, but maybe not the most practical method. I would like to hear how effective the QuietZone wall framing and system actually is. If the comparisons are made against standard wall construction, I can see how the noise reduction percentages could be so high, but I suspect other methods would be worth investigating if one has the opportunity, budget, and space to do so. Love the magazine. Keep up the good work!
Dave Duvall
Owens Corning’s Norman Varney Comments:
Mr. Duvall raises a good question regarding the de-coupling of one side of the wall to the other. The diagram below should answer and clarify details that were not included in the article. A better view of the Owens Corning’s QuietZone® Acoustic Wall Framing (QZAWF) shows how the resilient member of each framing piece does not make contact with either the top or bottom plates. The QZAWF design incorporates a 5/8-inch gap which separates the resilient member from the plates (see drawing below). Note that the resilient metal clips provide the only connection between the resilient member and the structural member of each pre-assembled piece of QZAWF. The metal clips are purposefully spaced along the length of each piece to act as spring isolators by converting vibrational energy to mechanical energy. As a result, very little noise vibration is transmitted through the QuietZone Acoustic Wall Mr. Duvall expresses interest in seeing and hearing wall comparisons. Please refer to Table 1 below for the visual and visit our website at: www.owenscorning.com/ around/sound/whatis.asp to hear an audio demonstration. Table 1 compares the acoustical performance of various wall constructions. As can be seen, the acoustical performances for the QuietZone assemblies are typically better than that of conventional wall framing techniques, and save space.
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