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Vibration and Sound Control in Reinforced Concrete Buildings
Vibration and Sound Control in Reinforced Concrete Buildings
ETN-B-3-16
Vibration and Sound Control in
Reinforced Concrete Buildings
Technical Note Introduction
Consideration of vibration and sound
within buildings is an important aspect in
Vibration Control
Natural Frequency of Reinforced Concrete
Floor Systems
design. Vibrations may simply be unpleas- One of the fundamental vibration char-
ant or may cause significant difficulties, acteristics of any floor system is its natural
particularly when day-to-day activities of frequency, which is related to the mass and
the occupants, performance of sensitive stiffness of the floor system. Natural fre-
equipment, or important functions are rou- quency is a measure of how a floor system
tinely disrupted. Sounds transmitted from a will respond to the sources that can cause
room or office can have a direct impact on vibration and is directly related to how the
the comfort and productivity of the occu- occupants will perceive such vibrations.
pants in adjacent rooms, especially where
people are trying to rest, sleep, or perform Most commercial computer programs
normal activities. can determine natural frequency and oth-
er pertinent vibration characteristics using
This Technical Note summarizes basic vi- finite element methods. Simplified proce-
bration and sound control characteristics of dures to determine the natural frequency
reinforced concrete. Sources of vibration of reinforced concrete floor systems can
and sound typically encountered in rein- be found in CRSI (2014).
forced concrete buildings are discussed as
are acceptance criteria for both. Guidelines In general, the greater the natural fre-
are provided on how to choose a reinforced quency, the more likely the floor system
concrete floor system based on vibration will be able to satisfy the required vibra-
acceptance criteria. Information is also giv- tion acceptance criteria for human comfort
en on the inherent sound control qualities or sensitive equipment. Because of their
of reinforced concrete and how these quali- inherent mass and stiffness, reinforced
ties meet minimum code requirements for concrete floor systems can readily meet
sound transmission. even the most stringent acceptance crite-
ria. Natural frequencies in the range of 7
to 12 Hz can be achieved by satisfying only
Sources Description
HVAC equipment
(ACI 2014). Larger natural frequencies are also easily at- Unacceptable Zone:
tainable. Many economical reinforced concrete options Areas above the curves
are available to satisfy essentially any prescribed accep- for each structure type
tance criteria.
Sources of Vibration 10
Rhythmic
Vibration of floor systems in buildings can be caused Activities
by a variety of sources, including the ones identified in
Shopping
Table 1. Sources that occur inside of or that are attached
Peak Acceleration %g
Malls,Dining
to a building are categorized as internal sources and and Dancing
those that are not are classified as external sources. The
1
items in the Table, which are not meant to be compre- Offices/
hensive, are sources that can typically have an impact on Residential
vibration design of a floor system.
(c) (d)
(e)
Figure 2 – Reinforced Concrete Floor Systems: (a) wide-module joist (b) flat plate (c) flat plate voided concrete slab
(d) two-way joist (e) grillage.
Table 2 – Initial Selection Guide for Reinforced Concrete Floor Systems Based on Vibration Acceptance Criteria
Wide-module joist X
Flat plate X
Two-way joist X X X
Grillage X X X
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CRSI Technical Note 3
there are many variables to take into account, so it Sound Control
should not be assumed that a specific type of floor sys-
tem can or cannot satisfy required acceptance criteria Properties of Sound
for a specific project based only on the information in Frequency, wavelength, and amplitude are the three
this Table. Experience and calculations using fundamen- properties of sound. Frequency, which is also referred
tal vibrational characteristics and practical span and load- to as pitch, is the number of cycles per second (Hz) pro-
ing limitations for each type of floor system were used duced by a sound wave that is generated by a sound
in creating this Table. source, that is, the number of times per second the
sound pressure alternates above and below the ambient
Advantages of Reinforced Concrete with Respect to atmospheric pressure. Human hearing range is typically
Vibration Control 20 to 20,000 Hz. Below 125 Hz is categorized as low
Because of their inherent mass and stiffness, rein- frequency and above 4,000 Hz is categorized as high fre-
forced concrete floor systems designed in accordance quency. Frequency has a notable impact on sound trans-
with the minimum serviceability requirements in ACI mission: low frequency sound will transmit more readily
318 (ACI 2014) have been found to readily satisfy vibra- through an acoustic barrier than high frequency sound.
tion acceptance criteria for human comfort under typi-
cal service conditions and occupancies. The acceptance Wavelength is the distance between the start and end
criteria for walking excitations are easily satisfied for all of a sound wave cycle. The frequency of a sound wave
types of reinforced concrete floor systems by providing is inversely proportional to its wavelength. Amplitude is
member sizes based on only the appropriate minimum synonymous to loudness and is measured in decibels
thickness requirements in ACI 318. This is in contrast to (dB), which is the ratio of a given sound pressure to a
structural steel and wood floor systems where member reference sound pressure.
sizes must typically be increased and/or where addition-
Changes in sound levels are usually noticeable in the
al members must be used to satisfy the criteria for walk-
5- to 8-dB range while a difference of as much as 2 dB
ing excitations.
generally goes unnoticed. High decibel levels can range
Acceptance criteria for rhythmic excitations are directly from being annoying to painful and can produce adverse
related to the fundamental frequency of a floor system, effects on the people subjected to them.
so an inherently stiff floor system—like the two-way joist
Sources of Sound
and grillage systems and under certain circumstances
Sound can be generated from numerous sources both
the flat plate voided concrete slab system—should be
inside and outside of a building. In general, there are
specified in such cases.
two types of sound paths: airborne sound and impact
The expected maximum velocity due to walking-in- sound. Airborne sounds radiate from a source directly
duced vibrations is inversely proportional to the stiffness into the air. Typical interior and exterior airborne sound
of the floor system, so in order to satisfy the acceptance sources are given in Table 3. Impact sound, which is
criteria for sensitive equipment, flat plate voided con- also commonly referred to as structure-borne sound, is
crete slab, two-way joist, or grillage systems must usu- sound that travels through solid building materials. Table
ally be used in such cases because they can be designed 3 contains examples of typical impact sound sources.
to be very stiff while still being relatively economical Note that the sound sources provided in this Table are
compared to the other floor systems. It is unlikely that a not meant to be comprehensive.
flat plate system with typical span lengths and superim-
Unwanted, excess sound is defined as noise.
posed loads will be able to satisfy acceptance criteria for
Depending on its properties and the materials utilized in
sensitive equipment even when the required vibrational
a building, noise can have a significant negative impact
velocity is relatively large unless an inordinately large
on the building occupants. Table 4 provides some typical
slab thickness is utilized. However, a practical, economi-
decibel levels from various sound sources and descrip-
cal grillage system can be designed to satisfy even the
tions of the expected impact on people experiencing
most severe acceptance criteria for sensitive equipment.
those sounds.
Once a preliminary floor system has been selected,
Like the effects from vibrations, what is considered
a comprehensive analysis should be performed, which
to be noise depends upon the individual that is experi-
verifies the adequacy of the floor system for strength,
encing the sound. Information on how the effects from
deflection, and vibration. It is important to properly de-
sound sources can be reduced through the use of rein-
sign for vibrational effects before a building is construct-
forced concrete is provided below.
ed because remediating the effects from vibration later
can be quite challenging and expensive. Acoustic Ratings
In general, acoustic ratings are measures of sound
transmission in building materials and assemblies. The
two types of acoustic ratings discussed here are sound
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4 Vibration and Sound Control in Reinforced Concrete Buildings [ETN-B-3-16]
Table 3 – Sources of Sound in Buildings Tables 5 and 6 give typical STC
ratings for various wall and roof/
Type of Source Description floor assemblies, respectively.
Voices An increase of 10 in the STC
translates roughly to a decrease
Music in the perceived noise by one-
Interior Machinery / Mechanical equipment half. Therefore, based on the in-
Office equipment formation in Table 5, only about
one-quarter as much sound
Airborne Airflow through uninsulated HVAC ductwork
penetrates a 6 in. concrete wall
Traffic / Highways compared to a wood stud wall
Aircraft with gypsum board.
Exterioir
Industrial To determine STC ratings of
Construction assemblies, measurements are
Footsteps on floors
taken in a laboratory in accor-
dance with the requirements
Door knocks or slams in ASTM E90 (ASTM 2009). The
Washers and dryers methodology for calculating
Impact Fans the STC is given in ASTM E413
(ASTM 2016b).
Mechanical / Plumbing equipment vibration
Weight drops on fitness center or gymnasium floors The following are important
to keep in mind when trying to
Rain
achieve a required or desired
STC rating:
Table 4 – Decibel Levels from Various Sound Sources
• STC does not measure blockage of low frequency
Sound Source Decibel (dB) Range
sounds; only mid- to high-frequency sounds are
measured. As noted previously, lower frequency
Concerts, jackhammers,
Painful: 120 – 150 dB sounds contain more energy and take more mass
plane taking off, firearms
to attenuate.
Machinery, snowmobile, Extremely loud: 90 – 100
public transit, traffic dB • Adding mass improves the STC rating. Doubling the
mass of an assembly can increase the STC rating by
Alarm clock, busy approximately 5 dB.
street, vacuum cleaner, Very loud: 60 – 80 dB
dishwasher • Wall assemblies built in the field will usually have
STC ratings that are 3 to 5 dB lower than those de-
Talking, normal voice 3 ft termined in a laboratory.
Normal: 50 – 60 dB
to 12 ft from speaker
• Sound transmission is governed by the weakest links
Moderate rainfall, quiet
room
Moderate: 40 – 50 dB in a wall assembly, which are usually the openings
that are commonly found in a wall. These openings
Whisper, quiet library Faint: 30 dB are referred to as flanking paths and can include
doors, windows, switches, outlets, mechanical/pipe
penetrations, and any gaps around these items that
transmission class (STC) and impact insulation class let sound through. Flanking paths will significantly
(IIC). reduce the STC rating of a wall assembly. It is impor-
tant that gaskets around doors, sealants around win-
Sound Transmission Class (STC)
dows, and the like are installed properly to ensure
STC is the measure, in decibels, of how much airborne
that the required STC rating is achieved.
sound a floor or wall assembly blocks. STC ratings only
measure sound blocked in the 125 to 4,000 Hz range, Impact Insulation Class (IIC)
which correspond to normal and amplified speech. A IIC ratings measure how much structure-borne sound
wall assembly with an STC rating of 50 can reduce 110 is blocked in floor/ceiling assemblies. The higher the IIC,
dB of airborne sound generated on one side of the wall the better the floor/ceiling assembly is at blocking the
to 60 dB of airborne sound on the other. This is the equiv- impact noise. Values of IIC for some of the assemblies
alent of reducing the noise level of a rock concert to the in Table 6 are given in Table 7.
level of normal speech.
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CRSI Technical Note 5
Impact sound transmission loss of floor/ceiling assem- entity under which the building is to be designed and
blies is measured in a laboratory and must conform to constructed.
the requirements in ASTM E492 (ASTM 2016a). A tap-
ping machine is used to generate impact noise: the ma- Section 1207 of the International Building Code (IBC)
chine drops five hammers in rapid succession at equal contains sound transmission requirements that apply
intervals on the test specimen. Impact sound pressure to common interior walls, partitions, and floor/ceiling
levels are measured in the receiving room below the assemblies between (1) adjacent dwelling units and
test specimen. The information from these tests is then sleeping units or (2) dwelling units and sleeping units
used to determine the IIC, which is calculated in accor- and adjacent public areas such as halls, corridors, stair-
dance with ASTM E989 (ASTM 2012). ways, or service areas (ICC 2015). For airborne sound, a
minimum value of 50 is required for the STC if the mea-
Limitations on Sound and Acceptable Noise Criteria surements are performed in a laboratory or 45 if field
Building codes, federal regulations, state regulations, tested. For impact sound, a minimum value of 50 is re-
and standards contain requirements for limiting the ef- quired for the IIC if the measurements are performed in
fects of sound in a building. The appropriate requirements a laboratory or 45 if field tested. It is important to check
that need to be satisfied are based on the governing sound transmission requirements with the local building
authority that has jurisdiction over the project.
Wood stud wall (2 × 4 in. studs spaced at 16 in. on center with ½ in. gypsum board on each face screwed
34
to the studs)
Metal stud wall (35/8 in., 25 gauge studs spaced 24 in. on center with a single layer of 5/8 in. gypsum board
39
on each face screwed to the studs)
8 × 8 × 16 in. lightweight CMU (28 lbs/block) 45
While STC and IIC ratings of 50 are the minimum pre- References
scribed by the IBC, it is not uncommon for owners of
ACI (American Concrete Institute). 2014. “Building
high-end properties to stipulate STC and IIC ratings of
Code Requirements for Structural Concrete and
60 or higher. While an STC of 60 is readily achievable, IIC
Commentary.” ACI 318-14, Farmington Hills, Michigan.
values of 60 generally require the use of resilient floor-
ing (vinyl) or carpet and are difficult to attain using hard ASTM (American Society for Testing and
surfacing such as ceramic tile. Materials). 2009. “Standard Test Method for Laboratory
Measurement of Airborne Sound Transmission Loss of
Advantages of Reinforced Concrete with Respect to
Building Partitions and Elements.” ASTM E90 – 09, West
Sound Control
Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
Reinforced concrete has many inherent characteristics
that make it ideal for attenuating sounds: ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials).
2012. “Standard Classification for Determination of
•
Due to its greater mass, reinforced concrete has
Impact Insulation Class (IIC).” ASTM E989 – 12, West
higher STC ratings and can block low frequency
Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
sounds better than wood or steel.
ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials).
• Due to mainly flat floor and roof surfaces, it is easier
2016a. “Standard Test Method for Laboratory
to avoid flanking paths in reinforced concrete struc-
Measurement of Impact Sound Transmission Through
tures compared to structures of other materials.
Floor-Ceiling Assemblies Using the Tapping Machine.”
• Low frequency thumping sounds of foot traffic are ASTM E492 – 16, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
better attenuated by reinforced concrete floor sys-
ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials).
tems than floor systems of wood or steel.
2016b. “Classification for Rating Sound Insulation.”
• Exterior walls of reinforced concrete attenuate out- ASTM E413 – 16, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
side noise sources (which tend to be low frequencies
CRSI (Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute). 2014.
below 125 Hz) significantly better than other materi-
Design Guide for Vibrations of Reinforced Concrete
als; this is especially beneficial for schools, hospitals,
Floor Systems, Schaumburg, IL.
and residences, or where buildings are located near
an airport or other loud sound sources.
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CRSI Technical Note 7
DuPree, R.B. 1980. Catalog of STC and IIC Ratings for
Wall and Floor/Ceiling Assemblies. California Department of
Health Services, Office of Noise Control, Berkley, California.
Contributors: The primary contributors to this publication are: David A. Fanella, Ph.D., P.E., S.E.,
F.ACI, F.ASCE and David B. McDonald, Ph.D., P.E., F.ACI, F.ASCE
Keywords: acoustic rating, IIC (impact insulation class), natural frequency, noise, reinforced concrete,
sound, STC (sound transmission class), vibration.
Reference: Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute – CRSI [2016], “Vibration and Sound Control in 933 North Plum Grove Rd.
Reinforced Concrete Buildings,” CRSI Technical Note ETN-B-3-16, Schaumburg, Illinois, 8 pp.
Schaumburg, IL 60173-4758
Historical: None p. 847-517-1200 • f. 847-517-1206
www.crsi.org
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contains. The Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute reports the foregoing material as a matter of infor-
mation and, therefore, disclaims any and all responsibility for application of the stated principles or for A Service of the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute
the accuracy of the sources other than material developed by the Institute. ©2016 This publication, or any part thereof, may not be
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