Farrat
VIBRATION, ACOUSTIC & SHOCK ISOLATION
Farrat Isolevel Ltd.
Balmoral Road, Altrincham, Cheshire WA15 8HJ.
England GB
Phone: +44 (0)161 924 1600
Fax: +44 (0) 161 924 1616
email: sales@farrat.com
www.farrat.com
Isomat Acoustic Floating Floors (IFFS)
Farrat Isomat Acoustic Floating Floors are used extensively in buildings as architectural isolation products to prevent acoustic and structure borne vibration disturbance from propagating through the structure especially where quiet spaces are located near noisy areas. They have been developed to provide high levels of acoustic and vibration isolation performance whilst being economical, easy and quick to install and incorporating mostly recycled or sustainable components. They can be used in a vast array of applications including: cinemas, performing arts facilities and concert halls, bowling alleys, nightclub dance floors, broadcasting and recording studios, conference rooms, hotels, gymnasiums, hospital operating theatres and sensitive equipment areas, mechanical equipment, plant and back up generator rooms, helipads, manufacturing facilities, instrument & nanotechnology facilities, anechoic chambers, city centre residential dwellings and offices, buildings near road or rail networks etc.
Why choose a Farrat IFFS
- Excellent acoustic & vibration isolation performance
- Flexibility in design, layout, acoustic & load bearing performance
Natural frequencies down to 6Hz
Acoustic air gap between 20 & 200mm
Floating concrete slab thicknesses between 50 & 2000mm
Load bearing capacity up to 900kN/m2 - Sustainability
The 'dry' system (excluding concrete) can comprise of up to 90% recycled or sustainable materials - Flexibility in delivery
Can be supplied as fully installed system or as an isolator kit for customer installation - Ease, speed and adaptability of installation with minimal waste
- Economical
- Uses high quality, long lifetime materials
System Principle
There are two fundamental elements to a floating floor; the acoustic air gap (usually 50 - 150mm) provides the airborne noise isolation whilst the vertical and horizontal isolators act to 'decouple' the floating floor from the rest of the building structure preventing the propagation of structure-borne vibration into or out of the isolated room.
Based on the specification requirements usually established by an acoustic consultant for a specific building or application, Farrat can advise on the most suitable type and grade of floating floor system and work with the project team to provide a full system specification.
Box in Box
The complete solution, full Box in Box systems can be used for cinemas, TV & Radio recording studios, conference facilities etc to provide the highest level of acoustic isolation properties with the minimum risk of flanking transmission paths.
Box in Box Systems consist of an Isomat floating floor where the internal walls of the room are installed directly onto the floating slab and supported by resilient wall ties resulting in a room which is completely decoupled from the surrounding building structure.
It is imperative that during construction, no solid 'bridges' exist between the floating floor, walls or ceiling as they will reduce the effectiveness of the system.
Isomat
Whilst we have strived to incorporate sustainable and recycled products into the IFFS, one area where we could not do so was in the load bearing isolators. For these items precise performance, durability and minimal creep are of paramount importance. In order to provide this we have used our Isomat material which is a specialist anti-vibration material developed specially by Farrat. Produced from high quality ISO6446 grade Neoprene (Chloroprene CR) rubber it has been tested according to BS6177 (Selection and use of elastomeric bearings for vibration isolation of buildings) and has been very successfully used for decades in all kinds of building structure and industrial applications such as cinema raked seating isolation, isolated foundations, structural bearings etc.
An Isomat Floating Floor combined with Isomat pads (or other Farrat anti vibration pad materials) as tiered seating steelwork or precast concrete isolation used within cinemas, performing arts centres and concert halls. Walls can be installed on the floating floor and isolated seating to create a box in box structure.
IFFS Specification
Isomat Isolators
If using standard plywood sheets (2440x1220mm) the maximum spacing of the isolators should be 610mm. This is to ensure that the isolators will line up with the joints between the plywood sheets which is important to prevent sagging at the edges of the sheet which may cause leaking of concrete and potentially bridging of the isolation system. Where thinner floating slabs are required or higher imposed loads are predicted then the centre spacing can be reduced to 400 or 300mm.
Suggested centre spacing is as follows:
Ply sheet size 2400x1200: 600mm (approx 3/m2) 400mm (approx 6.5/m2) 300mm (approx 11.5/m2)
Ply sheet size 2440x1220: 610mm (approx 3/m2) 406mm (approx 6.5/m2) 305mm (approx 11.5/m2)
Example using: IMCR45-25 isolators:
If using 100x100x25mm isolators at
600mm centres (=3 isolators per m2),
Max load per isolator = 3kN
Max load per m2 = 9kN
| Grade/Shore Hardness |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IMCR (Neoprene) | Unit | 45 | 60 | 75 |
| Max. Loading Pres. (15% Deflection) | N/mm2 (Mpa) | 0.3 | 0.45 | 0.9 |
| Min. Natural Frequency (15% Defl, 25mm thick pad) | Hz | 10.0 | 10.5 | 11.0 |
| Min. Natural Frequency (15% Defl, 50mm thick pad) | Hz | 7 | 7.5 | 7.8 |
| Min. Natural Frequency (15% Defl, 75mm thick pad) | Hz | 5.8 | 6.0 | 6.4 |
Where 25mm thick isolators are used the floating slab will deflect by up to 4mm under full load. If 50 or 75mm thick isolators are required then the maximum deflection will be up to 7.5mm and 12mm respectively.
See the Farrat Isomat datasheet or contact Farrat for performance calculation method.
Walls, columns & point loads: Where point loads are to be applied to the floating floor such as from columns, walls, doors, heavy equipment etc then larger isolators may be required at specific points to ensure an even load distribution across the slab.
Acoustic mineral wool of varying thicknesses can be installed in the acoustic air gap where the acoustic consultant deems it necessary.
FAVIM Sidewall / Lateral Isolation: FAVIM FVM100 is supplied in 12.5mm thick strips. The height of the strip is calculated by measuring the distance between the structural slab and the top of the floating concrete slab.
Permanent formwork shuttering: The IFFS will work with plywood sheet thickness of 15mm up to 25mm. 12mm ply can be used but extra care must be taken during installation to ensure that it does not sag too much across the isolator centres.
Floating concrete slab: The DPM, concrete & reinforcement grades are to be designed by qualified Structural Engineers but Farrat are happy to assist with this process taking into account the project requirements.
Non concrete variants: The dry part of the IFFS will support any floor type. If a floating concrete slab is not possible then the floors can be constructed from lightweight sandwich constructions using high density acoustic plasterboard & plywood. Such systems are to be designed by qualified acoustic consultants.
For more information on system design, standard detail drawings, performance, installation and pricing please contact Farrat.
IFFS Installation
The IFFS has been carefully designed to be easy, quick and versatile to install. Within the UK full system installation can be provided by our partner company (AcouStruct Ltd). Outside the UK or where the client wishes to source the non-Farrat manufactured items locally and carry out the installation themselves then Farrat are happy to supply full installation instructions and, if required, on site supervision.
Isomat Acoustic floating floor systems are considered to be among the best of all the form work, panel mount and rail type floating floor systems as well as highly competitive alternatives to jack up and lift slab style floating floors. We invite you to contact us to discuss your requirements in more detail.
FAVIM Acoustic - Under screed resilient layers
Where low frequency isolation is not required but a level of impact sound isolation is required such as where heavy foot fall noises are still audible Farrat can offer FAVIM Acoustic as an under screed resilient layer. These systems can reduce the levels of impact noise by between 5 and 18 dB which is a significant reduction and serves to significantly reduce the higher frequency of the noise.
