Floating Floor with Damping Elements and Air Cavity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sound insulation and vibration damping solutions for floors, such as those in sports halls, fail to effectively reduce noise and vibrations from impact loads like heavy objects or dynamic activities, as they either transmit noise directly to concrete slabs or are inadequate for intense activities like dancing and weightlifting.
Innovation Solution
A floating floor design featuring a multilayer assembly with vibration damping elements, an air cavity, and mineral wool, along with a second subassembly for distributing impact energy, which includes layers of acoustic insulation and solid support to absorb and distribute vibrations uniformly, preventing direct transmission to the supporting floor.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a carpet is placed directly on the floor to reduce impact noise, then the noise from light impacts is reduced, but significant load impacts still transmit noise directly to the concrete slabs
Solution Approach 1:
The floor covering is divided into modular elements that can be independently arranged, allowing optimization of noise reduction performance while maintaining structural integrity and load distribution capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The system combines carpet with a specialized underlay comprising viscoelastic damping layers and resilient support elements, creating a composite structure that addresses both light and significant impact noise through different material mechanisms
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a sound-insulating underlay is placed between concrete slabs and floor to minimize sound transmission, then noise transmission is reduced, but vibration damping for dynamic activities is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The underlay incorporates layers with different mechanical properties (viscoelastic damping layer, resilient support layer) that can adapt to varying impact frequencies and intensities, providing effective damping across multiple activity types from light walking to dynamic sports
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple material layers with complementary properties are combined to achieve both sound insulation and versatile vibration damping, where each layer addresses specific frequency ranges or impact types
3Object-affected harmful factors
If vibration damping elements are placed between ground and concrete slabs to reduce impact noise, then noise distribution is improved, but the construction thickness increases
Solution Approach 1:
Vibration damping elements are positioned at specific locations where they are most effective (between concrete slabs and at strategic points), rather than uniformly throughout, optimizing noise reduction while minimizing overall thickness
Solution Approach 2:
Thin viscoelastic damping layers and resilient membranes are used instead of thick rigid damping elements, providing effective vibration absorption with minimal thickness addition
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The floating floor significantly reduces impact noise and vibrations by distributing energy across the damping elements and air cavity, minimizing transmission to the supporting structure while maintaining an acceptable construction thickness.
Implementation Method 1
a first lower layer comprising a plurality of vibration damping elements distributed over the load-bearing floor
Implementation Method 2
said first multilayer sub-assembly comprising: a first lower layer comprising a plurality of vibration damping elements
Implementation Method 3
an air cavity delimited by the damping elements, the load-bearing floor and the first central layer
Implementation Method 4
a layer of mineral wool placed in the air cavity between the first central layer and the supporting floor
Implementation Method 5
the thickness of said layer of mineral wool being defined so as to create an air layer
Implementation Method 6
a second subassembly for distributing the impact energy of a load against an upper face of a floor covering
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a floating floor for sound insulation and vibration damping (40) comprising: - a first multilayer sub-assembly (E1) of sound insulation and damping disposed on a load-bearing floor (1); - said first multilayer sub-assembly comprising: - a first lower layer (2) comprising a plurality of vibration damping elements (3) distributed on the load-bearing floor (1) and spaced apart from each other; - a first central solid support layer (5) positioned on the damping elements (3); - an air cavity (4) delimited by the damping elements (3), the load-bearing floor (1) and the first central layer (5); - a first upper layer of sound insulation (6) placed on the first central layer (5);- a second multilayer sub-assembly (E2) for distributing the impact energy of a load against an upper face (7A) of a floor covering (7) and for supporting said damping elements of the first sub-assembly (E1), said second sub-assembly being placed between said first multilayer sub-assembly (E1) and the floor covering (7).