ASTM E336-17

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Designation: E336 − 16a E336 − 17
Standard Test Method for
Measurement of Airborne Sound Attenuation between
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Rooms in Buildings
This standard is issued under the fixed designation E336; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (´) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.
This standard has been approved for use by agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense.
INTRODUCTION
This test method is part of a set of standards for evaluating the sound-insulating properties of
building elements. It is designed to measure the sound isolation between two rooms or to estimate
lower limits for sound transmission through a partition element installed as an interior part of a
building. Others in the set cover the airborne sound transmission loss of an isolated partition element
in a controlled laboratory environment (Test Method E90), the laboratory measurement of impact
sound transmission through floors (Test Method E492), the measurement of impact sound transmis-
sion in buildings (Test Method E1007), the measurement of sound transmission through building
facades and facade elements (Guide E966), the measurement of sound transmission through a
common plenum between two rooms (Test Method E1414/E1414M), and measurement of the
normalized insertion loss of doors (Test Method E2964).
1. Scope
1.1 The sound isolation between two spaces in a building is influenced most strongly by a combination of the direct transmission
through the nominally separating building element (as normally measured in a laboratory) and any transmission along a number
of indirect paths, usually referred to as flanking paths. Fig. 1 illustrates the direct paths and some possible structural flanking paths.
Additional non-structural flanking paths may include transmission through common air ducts between rooms, or doors to the
corridor from adjacent rooms. Sound isolation is also influenced by the size of the separating partition between spaces and
absorption in the receiving space, and in the case of small spaces by modal behavior of the space and close proximity to surfaces.
1.2 The main part of this test method defines procedures and metrics to assess the sound isolation between two rooms or portions
thereof in a building separated by a common partition or the apparent sound insulation of the separating partition, including both
direct and flanking transmission paths in all cases. Appropriate measures and their single number ratings are the noise reduction
(NR) and noise isolation class (NIC) which indicate the isolation with the receiving room furnished as it is during the test, the
normalized noise reduction (NNR) and normalized noise isolation class (NNIC) which indicate the expected isolation when the
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receiving room is a normally furnished living or office space that is at least 25 m (especially useful when the test must be done
with the receiving room unfurnished), and the apparent transmission loss (ATL) and apparent sound transmission class (ASTC)
which indicate the apparent sound insulating properties of a separating partition. The measurement of ATL is limited to spaces of
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at least 25 m where modal effects create fewer problems. With the exception of the ATL and ASTC under specified conditions,
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these procedures in the main part of the test method are only applicable when both room volumes are less than 150 m .
NOTE 1—The word “partition” in this test method includes all types of walls, floors, or any other boundaries separating two spaces. The boundaries
may be permanent, operable, or movable.
1.3 The NR and NIC between two locations may always be measured and reported though conditions present will influence how
measurements are made. Restrictions such as minimum room volume or dimensions or maximum room absorption are imposed
for all other measures and ratings in this standard. Thus, conditions may exist that will not allow NNR (NNIC), ATL (ASTC) or
FTL (FSTC) to be reported. Where a partition between rooms is composed of parts that are constructed differently, or contains an
element such as a door, it is not possible to measure the ATL and ASTC of the individual elements or portions of the partition.
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This test method is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee E33 on Building and Environmental Acoustics and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E33.03
on Sound Transmission.
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