The standard “PSA D45 5038 Sound insulation materials – Acoustic insulation”, developed by PSA, a French multinational automotive company that produces cars and motorcycles under brands such as Peugeot, Citroën and Opel, describes the equipment and procedure to be used to measure the improvement in airborne sound insulation provided by applying a material or combination of materials to a sheet of a specified thickness.
The result is a gain in sound insulation expressed in dB(L) in the form of a third-octave spectrum. The curve's operating range is from 315 to 10.000 Hz, but the curve should be given between 50 and 10.000 Hz (the lowest frequencies used to verify the measurement).
The gain in sound insulation provided by the material being measured corresponds to the difference in level in the receiver cabinet of the coated sheet compared to the bare sheet.
In principle, the sound insulation capacity of a partition is determined by the difference in sound pressure levels measured on either side of the partition.
This insulation strength varies with frequency. To characterize a given coating, the operator must perform two measurements: the bare layer alone (used as a reference condition) and the coated layer. For each of these two measurements, the object being measured is placed between the transmitting and receiving enclosures. The emission level is held constant for both measurements. When the bare layer is used as a partition, an NR1 level is measured on the receiving side. With the coated layer, an NR2 level is measured on the receiving side. The NR1-NR2 difference corresponds to the insulation gain provided by the coating compared to the bare layer.
Equipment used in the tests includes:
The transmitter enclosure is designed to emit at least 120 dB(A) of white noise. White noise is generated using:
All loudspeakers are located on a wooden platform placed on top of the transmitter enclosure. A monitoring microphone controls the overall pressure level of the emission.
Samples must be representative of the quantity to be characterized. To ensure this representativeness, it is necessary to know the baseline characteristics of the population being studied. Sample selection criteria must be specified in the test report in accordance with standard A10 0156.
When preparing test pieces, a square steel sheet (900 mm on each side) of 0,8 mm thickness or any thickness specified in the design is used. A second piece is obtained using the same criteria and is overlaid with a 700 mm square flat sample.
Before testing, the measuring system is checked using a single-frequency calibrator. The test is accepted within a 10 percent tolerance of the expected level. If the result is out of control, the measurement should not be performed and the measuring system should be calibrated.
Unless otherwise stated, the ambient test temperature should be 23 degrees plus/minus 2 degrees and 50 percent plus/minus 5 percent relative humidity.
The background noise level should be checked to ensure that it is below the acceptability criterion, as the levels measured during reception are quite low.
It is recommended that soundproofing material samples be conditioned at 23°C plus/minus 2°C for 24 hours before measurement. The operator must ensure that the object is not subjected to any mechanical or thermal stress that could cause deformation.
The measured samples must be of good quality, uniform in thickness, and undeformed, ensuring that the frame's support on the complex provides a good environmental seal. The operator records the specific information about the measured sample (includes it in the test report):
An inspection report of the measured sample must also be included in the test report. Diagrams or photographs of the sample may be included in the report.
The sample holder frame is placed on the sheet metal. The sample is placed in the center of the entire contact surface and is evenly positioned. The receiver enclosure perimeter overlaps the sample holder frame and partially overlaps the sample perimeter. A perfect seal must be achieved around the mounting area at the interface between the wooden frame and the sheet metal (this should be checked with an acoustic probe before measurement and sealed with sealant if necessary).
The measurement points are as follows:
The plan of the small cabin test facility is included in the standard annex (Annex 1).
Acoustic insulation is important for several key reasons, affecting human health, comfort, productivity, and privacy in a variety of environments, including homes, offices, hospitals, and schools. The primary reasons for the importance of acoustic insulation include:
In short, acoustic insulation is not just a luxury, it is a necessity for modern living and working spaces to ensure health, safety and efficiency.
Our organization, which has been supporting businesses across all sectors for years through a wide range of testing, measurement, analysis, and evaluation activities, has a strong team of employees who closely follow global developments in science and technology and are constantly improving themselves. In this context, we also provide testing services to businesses in accordance with the "PSA D45 5038 Soundproofing Materials - Acoustic Insulation" standard.
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