Reflection and transmission properties of a wall-floor building element: comparison between finite element model and experimental data.

Changes in the Swedish construction code introduced in 1994 enabled the construction of wooden multi-storey buildings. The main issue in those is disturbing vibrations and noise propagating throughout the construction. Therefore, gaining knowledge about their behavior is of crucial importance for the industry. In this study, a mockup of a wall/floor junction was investigated by comparing both experimental and simulation (FEM) results. The mockup resembles a section of a real wooden building. It is 9.3 m long and 3.6 m wide. The structure was built using wooden beams as load-bearing components and chipboards as the floor surface. Likewise, a gypsum wall was placed in the middle surrounded by a wooden frame. The reflection and transmission properties of the structure were studied when subjected to harmonic excitations. The junction has been studied experimentally using dual-axis accelerometers attached to the T junction, post-processing the data using the scattering matrix formulation, which allows separating the transmitted and reflected wave as the wave propagates towards the junction, as well as the rate of wave conversion. Subsequently, a FE model of the structure was created allowing the comparation between both cases. This project was funded by Interreg IV, Silent Spaces.