When considering the sound transmission through a wall in between two rooms, in an important part of the audio frequency range the local response of the rooms is highly sensitive to uncertainty in spatial variations in geometry, material properties and boundary conditions, which have a wave scattering effect, while the local response of the wall is rather insensitive to such uncertainty. For this mid-frequency range, a computationally efficient modeling strategy is adopted that accounts for this uncertainty. The partitioning wall is modeled deterministically, e.g. with finite elements. The rooms are modeled in a very efficient, nonparametric stochastic way, as in statistical energy analysis. All components are coupled by means of a rigorous power balance. This hybrid strategy is extended so that the mean and variance of the sound transmission loss can be computed as well as the transition frequency that loosely marks the boundary between low-and high-frequency behavior of a vibro-acoustic component. The method is first validated in a simulation study, and then applied for predicting the airborne sound insulation of a series of partition walls of increasing complexity: a thin plastic plate, a wall consisting of gypsum blocks, a thicker masonry wall and a double glazing. It is found that the uncertainty caused by random scattering is important except at very high frequencies, where the modal overlap of the rooms is very high. The results are compared with laboratory measurements, and both are found to agree to within the prediction uncertainty in the considered frequency range.

A trench can act as a barrier to ground vibration and is a potential mitigation measure for low frequency vibration induced by surface railways. However, to be effective at very low frequencies the depth required becomes impractical. Nevertheless, for soil with a layered structure in the top few metres, if a trench can be arranged to cut through the upper, soft layer of soil, it can be effective in reducing the most important components of vibration from the trains. This study considers the possibility of using such a realistically feasible solution.Barriers containing a soft fill material are also considered. The study uses coupled finite element / boundary element models expressed in terms of the axial wavenumber. It is found to be important to include the track in the model as this determines how the load is distributed at the soil's surface which significantly affects the insertion loss of the barrier. Calculations are presented for a range of typical layered grounds in which the depth of the upper soil layer is varied. Variations in the width and depth of the trench or barrier are also considered. The results show that, in all ground conditions considered, the notional rectangular open trench performs best. The depth is the most important parameter whereas the width has only a small influence on its performance. More practical arrangements are also considered in which the 2 sides of the trench are angled. Barriers consisting of a soft fill material are shown to be much less effective than an open trench but still have some potential benefit. It is found that the stiffness of the barrier material and not its impedance is the most important material parameter.

The effectiveness of heavy masses next to the track as a measure for the reduction of railway induced ground vibration is investigated by means of numerical simulations. It is assumed that the heavy masses are placed in a continuous row along the track forming a wall. Such a continuous wall could be built as a gabion wall and also used as a noise barrier. Since the performance of mitigation measures on the transmission path strongly depends on local ground conditions, a parametric study is performed for a range of possible designs in a set of different ground types. A two-and-a-half dimensional coupled finite element -boundary element methodology is used, assuming that the geometry of the problem is uniform in the direction along the track. It is found that the heavy masses start to be effective above the mass-spring resonance frequency which is determined by the dynamic stiffness of the soil and the mass of the wall. At frequencies above this resonance frequency, masses at the soil's surface hinder the propagation of surface waves. It is therefore beneficial to make the footprint of the masses as large and stiff as possible. For homogeneous soil conditions, the effectiveness is nearly independent of the distance behind the wall. In the case of a layered soil with a soft top layer, the vibration reduction strongly decreases with increasing distance from the wall.

The sound transmission loss (STL) of finite lightweight multilayered structures with thin air layers is studied in this paper. Two types of models are used to describe the vibro-acoustic behavior of these structures. Standard transfer matrix method assumes infinite layers and represents the plane wave propagation in the layers. A wave based model describes the direct sound transmission through a rectangular structure placed between two reverberant rooms. Full vibro-acoustic coupling between rooms, plates, and air cavities is taken into account. Comparison with double glazing measurements shows that this effect of vibro-acoustic coupling is important in lightweight double walls. For infinite structures, structural damping has no significant influence on STL below the coincidence frequency. In this frequency region, the non-resonant transmission or so-called mass-law behavior dominates sound transmission. Modal simulations suggest a large influence of structural damping on STL. This is confirmed by experiments with double fiberboard partitions and sandwich structures. The results show that for thin air layers, the damping induced by friction and viscous effects at the air gap surfaces can largely influence and improve the sound transmission characteristics.

As noise is a basic contributor to the evaluation of an environment, the indoor environment of a nursing home (where residents are provided with 24-hour functional support and care) is studied with this focus. General research results, as indicated from a literature review, are limited up till now. Using quantitative and qualitative methods five nursing homes in Flanders were studied before and after acoustic interventions. Sound levels were measured in individual bedrooms, living rooms and corridors to obtain the typical levels during a day. Acoustic intra-room performance parameters (reverberation time) and inter-room performance parameters (airborne noise insulation level and impact noise insulation level) were measured and compared with Belgian target values. The post operam measurements indicated the potential of the acoustic interventions (use of acoustic curtains, wall and ceiling panels, ventilations grills, floating floors) to improve the building performance and the acoustic climate. From a qualitative viewpoint, the thematic analysis of staff response to the acoustic interventions indicated direct positive outcomes (e.g., more pleasant, quieter indoor soundscapes) with both positive and negative outcomes from perceived indirect effects (i.e., non-acoustic factors).

This paper investigates the effectiveness of a sheet pile wall to reduce railway induced vibration transmission by means of field measurements and numerical simulations. At Furet, Sweden, a sheet pile wall has been installed in the soil near the track to reduce train induced vibrations in houses close to the track. The depth of the sheet piles is 12 m with every fourth pile extended to 18 m. The efficacy of the wall is determined from in situ measurements of free field vibrations during train passages before and after installation of the sheet pile wall. The field test shows that the sheet pile wall reduces vibrations from 4 Hz upwards. Up till 16 − 20 Hz, the performance generally increases with frequency and typically decreases with increasing distance behind the wall. The performance is further studied by means of two-and-a-half-dimensional coupled finite element -boundary element models. The sheet pile wall is modeled as an orthotropic plate using finite elements, while the soil is modeled as a layered halfspace using boundary elements. The sheet pile wall acts as a stiff wave barrier and the efficacy is determined by the depth and the stiffness contrast with soil. The reduction of vibration levels is entirely due to the relatively high axial stiffness and plate bending stiffness with respect to the horizontal axis of the sheet pile wall; the plate bending stiffness with respect to the vertical axis is too low to affect the transmission of vibrations. Therefore, it is important to take into account the orthotropic behaviour of the sheet pile wall. It is concluded that a sheet pile wall can effectively act as a wave barrier in soft soil conditions provided that the wall is sufficiently deep.

Railway-induced ground vibration is often associated with sites with soft ground. Stiffening of the subgrade beneath the railway track is one particular measure that has potential to reduce the vibration level at such sites. However, the mechanisms behind this reduction are not well understood. Here, the effects are examined in the context of two alternative approaches: (i) subgrade stiffening, where the soil directly under the track is stiffened, and (ii) stiff inclusions introduced at some depth beneath the track, sometimes known as 'wave impeding blocks'. The efficacy of the measures is considered for different ground types in a parametric study carried out using a 2.5D coupled finite-element / boundary-element methodology. The soil is considered to consist of a soft upper layer over a stiffer substratum; corresponding homogeneous grounds are also considered. With a 6 m wide, 1 m thick, concrete block directly under the track, the vibration between 16 and 50 Hz was found to be reduced by between 4 and 10 dB for ground with a 3 m deep soft upper layer. For a deeper soft layer the reductions were greater whereas, for a stiffer ground without the soft upper layer, the reductions in vibration from this block were negligible. Slightly smaller reductions in a similar frequency region were observed when the block was positioned 1 m below the 2 surface, suggesting that, as with stiffening directly under the track, the reduction in vibration was primarily due to the increase of the effective stiffness of the soil beneath the track rather than the effective creation of a new, thinner soil layer. Jet grouting is considered as an alternative to concrete and, although it is found to be less effective due to its comparatively low stiffness, it may still be considered as a practical measure for existing tracks on soft soil sites. The reduction in vibration from this form of soil improvement with a depth of 3 m is similar to that for a 1 m thick concrete block. Finally, results are presented for three example sites with different soil properties which show similar trends.

In this paper, a hybrid wave based-transfer matrix model is presented that allows for the investigation of the sound transmission through finite multilayered structures placed between two reverberant rooms. The multilayered structure may consist of an arbitrary configuration of fluid, elastic, or poro-elastic layers. The field variables (structural displacements and sound pressures) are expanded in terms of structural and acoustic wave functions. The boundary and continuity conditions in the rooms determine the participation factors in the pressure expansions. The displacement of the multilayered structure is determined by the mechanical impedance matrix, which gives a relation between the pressures and transverse displacements at both sides of the structure. The elements of this matrix are calculated with the transfer matrix method. First, the hybrid model is numerically validated. Next a comparison is made with sound transmission loss measurements of a hollow brick wall and a sandwich panel. Finally, numerical simulations show the influence of structural damping, room dimensions and plate dimensions on the sound transmission loss of multilayered structures.