Above All Store Fronts adheres to the highest standards of architectural quality control. In order to accomplish this, our construction materials are rigorously tested. This post focuses on materials property and acoustical testing.
Materials Property Testing for Building Products
Depending on the type of project, we run a specific assortment of materials property tests, ensuring that they meet all building standards.
Properties Tested
- Aesthetic – Color, Gloss, Light Transmission, Reflectance, Surface Defects
- Durability – Accelerated Weathering under UV, temperature and humidity variables, Corrosion Resistance (Salt Fog and High Humidity), Mechanical Service Life
- Environmental Effects – Freeze/Thaw, Low/High Temperatures, UV Resistance, Exposure to Chemical Reagants (De-icing salts, Acid Rain)
- Mechanical/Physical – Stiffness, Strength, Toughness, Hardness, Wear Resistance, Expansion/Contraction, Impact, Scratch/Wear Resistance, Compression, Shear, Tension, Bending
Acoustical Certification Testing
Why Acoustical Testing is Important
Excessive noise in our schools, workplaces, homes, and factories, have been known to cause fatigue, increased stress levels, speech impairment, productivity issues, and even hearing loss. These effects have led to an increased regulation causing manufacturers to pay more attention to the acoustical properties of their products as accurate acoustical performance measurements are becoming critical for certification of building products, materials, and appliances.
Acoustical Testing Procedure
Test Procedure: Two adjacent reverberation rooms are arranged with an opening between them. The product or assembly is installed into a test frame or filler wall which is then placed in the opening between the test chambers. Care is taken that the only significant sound transmission path between rooms is by way of the test specimen or partition. An approximately diffuse sound field is then produced in the source room. Sound incident on the test specimen causes it to vibrate and create a sound field in the receiving room. The space- and time-averaged sound pressure levels in the two rooms are determined. In addition, with the test specimen in place, the sound absorption and the background sound levels in the receiving room are determined. The sound pressure levels in the two rooms, the sound absorption in the receiving room and the area of the specimen are used to calculate sound transmission loss at the standard 1/3 octave band frequencies.
End Result: The test report will include the sound transmission loss values from 80 to 5000 Hertz, the STC rating and the OITC rating. The ISO international rating (Rw) can also be calculated if requested in advance. Sound transmission loss measurements may be conducted at some lower frequencies if requested in advance.
Related Post: Outdoor-Indoor Transmission Class (OITC) Ratings