OVERVIEW OF ACOUSTIC FLOATING FLOORS

In general terms, a floating floor refers to a floor that is not nailed or glued to the subfloor. However, when we are discussing an acoustic floated floor, we are considering a floated element of a given mass, with a clear air gap below, supported on resilient mounts above the subfloor.

TVS Floating Floor covers a large variety of high performance, acoustic floating floors, suitable for a whole range of different applications. Acoustic floating floors are used within structures to either protect sensitive rooms and areas from external noise sources, or to contain the noise and vibration generated within a space from breaking out and causing problems for other areas of the building.

The performance of the floated floor is dictated by the mass of the floated element, the size of the air gap and the natural frequency of the resilient mounts, whilst additional factors such as the addition of mineral wool in the void can improve the low frequency performance. In simple terms, to increase the performance of a floated floor you can:

•  Increase the floated mass
• Increase the depth of the void
• Reduce the natural frequency of the resilient mounts

Isolator Type

The technical team at TVS is more than happy to assist in the specification of a floated floor. The selection of the isolators and their spacing is designed to ensure that the required natural frequency performance is met under any potential load case, whilst ensuring that any peak load cases can be accommodated comfortably, without causing any damage to the floor or the isolators. Additional requirements such as the isolators’ damping characteristics, the shock isolation performance and the potential additional deflection under live loads are all factors that need to be considered carefully for certain applications.

Typical locations where floating floors are often required include:

TVS RESi FF CONCRETE SYSTEMS

Concrete floating floors are the most common type of floated build-up as the additional mass that this system provides offers the greatest acoustic benefit. These systems also offer the greatest strength, whilst the large dead load that the floated slab provides ensures minimal movement under the addition of any live loading.

The TVS RESi FF Systems allows for a ‘pour in place’ construction, where the acoustic formwork is built and then the concrete is poured at the final design height with no requirement for any additional levelling or ‘jacking up’. This is very beneficial in terms of a project’s programme and as such is often utilised in cinema auditoria where these floors are the last thing to be constructed before the shell is handed over to the fit-out contractors.

TVS CONCRETE SPRING JACK-UP FLOOR

Certain noise-sensitive fitness facilities featuring increasingly popular heavy lifting activities, can significantly benefit from the addition of a heavy mass concrete floor with large deflection coil springs. These higher performing concrete floating floor systems need to be professionally designed by our engineers to correctly support the weight of the specific equipment and to prevent the concrete from cracking when jacked up into position.

TVS Jack-up isolators come in a variety of sizes and capacities to cater for different slab thicknesses, floor weights, air gaps and performance specifications. Steel reinforcement is placed between the steel spring elements to ensure a very rigid floor is produced after the concrete has been cast, ready for the floor to be jacked up when cured.

You Can Find TVS Products In NBS Source

NBS Source provides designers and specifiers with TVS product information in just one click, helping them to specify quickly, accurately and with the most relevant and up to date information at the time of specification.

NBS Source helps architects, engineers, designers and contractors to work smarter and reduce their risk.

Click this link to visit NBS Source