Noise Barrier Performance of a Sekisyu-Tile Roof

Ryota Shimokura

Area of Architecture and Production Design Engineering, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science & Engineering, Shimane

University, Shimane, Japan

Abstract: The Sekisyu tile is a regional product manufactured as an architectural roof material in the Japanese prefecture Shimane. The present study evaluated the noise barrier performance of a roof made from Sekisyu tiles. Measurements of sound insulation were made in three single-room house models having tiled, steel, and thatched roofs and measurements of rain noise were made in the models having tiled and steel roofs. In the measurement of sound insulation, the noise levels measured under the tiled and steel roofs were 10 dB lower than those measured under the thatched roof. Additionally, when the source position was above the center of the roof surface, the sound pressure levels at frequency bands of 500 and 1000 Hz were 6.6 dB lower under the tiled roof than under the steel roof. In the measurement of rain noise (for a precipitation rate of 2.2 mm/h), noise levels measured under the tiled roof were 4 dB lower than those under the steel roof. The sound of rain drumming on the steel roof included strong sound energy at frequencies above 500 Hz. In future work, I will examine how differences in the noise level affect speech intelligibility and sleep quality.

Key words: sound insulation, rain noise, tiled roof, steel roof, thatched roof, noise level