Good sound transmission loss will decrease the noise significantly and create silent and quite environment.In auto ,many high end brands use laminated glass instead of single piece tempered glass to increase the sound transmission loss.As part of the building, whether the concrete wall,floors etc ,they’re thick and have good sound transmission loss.As the thinnest part of the building ,glass is usually only several milimeter thick,some insulated glass are 24mm thick,glass has been the weakest point of the building noise conductivity materials,here we introduce the factors that affect glass STC and measures to increase glass STC.

Glass Sound barrier

soundproof barrier

 

Factors that affect glass STC

  1. Glass thickness.Increasing glass thickness is the most important measurement.

3mm thick monolithic glass, glass STC is only 30Dbs,when glass thickness was increased to 12mm thick,glass STC can reach 36Dbs,whether it’s single piece monolithic glass,laminated glass,or insulated glass,the thicker total glass thickness,the better sound transmission loss.

  1. PVB or other interlayer used in laminated glass.

PVB or SGP,EVA, these materials are soft materials ,it can decrease the vibration and work as good barrier for sound transmission.Meanwhile,the thicker PVB interlayer,the better sound transmission loss cause by the interlayer.

  1. Air space thickness.Thicker air space for insulated glass will increase sound transmission loss.For example, 3-10A-3 insulated glass STC is 3Dbs higher than 3-6A-3mm glass.

When the spacer becomes thicker,STC will be better.

Here is a simple chart showing the typical glass STC value:

Glass combinationGlass typeGlass thicknessSTC(Dbs)
6mm glassMonolithic6mm31 Dbs
6+1.52PVB+6Laminated13.52MM39 Dbs
6+12A+6Insulated24MM35 Dbs
6+12A+6+12A+6Triple insulated42MM39 Dbs
6+12A+6+1.52+6Laminated Insulated31.52MM43Dbs

The conclusion shows thicker and better glass combination will increase glass STC ,of course this will bring the increased costs in glass.

In most cases,40 Dbs has been very excellent in architectural application.So most laminated insulated glass ,and laminated glass are satisfy most project requirement.

Here we also offer several related resources to check the glass STC for clients before designing the project.

Related glass STC resources:

1.Viracon:The performance data below applies to an insulating unit constructed with two plies of glass and an air or argon filled space. Data is based on testing  ~ 36″ x 84″ glass to ASTM E413-87 in an acoustical wall. *OITC is estimated based on this test. Glass size and glazing system will afect STC rating. The STC (Sound Transmission Class) rating is a single-number rating system for interior building partitions and viewing windows used to categorize acoustic performance.

Download Viracon glass acoustic performance here:

VIRACON-accoustic-performance

  1. Saflex: Saflex offered an online tools,soundpro,the database include the glass STC that has been tested worldwide,even though the database has limited data,but can work as good reference especially for acoustic PVB.

https://www.saflex.com/tools/soundpro

  1. A simple formula used by facade companies to estimate the glass acoustic performance,details please check here:

https://www.mornglass.com/how-to-calculate-the-glass-stc.html

Morn is your turnkey architectural glass supplier from China,welcome contact us for more info.

Download this article here:How-to-increase-glass-sound-transmission-loss