Thread: Vacuum soundproofing..

Hello everybody,

I have just one question for you, which I can't find answer for, so I thought you guys from science might know the answer..

Could vacuum pressure be used in soundproofing?

Let's say, for a recording booth.. two cubes, one inside the other, separated from each other by a vacuum, no mechanical contact between them (floor support only).

Would the vibrations of the outer cube walls get into the internal cube?

To me it seems like this method could work, and that's why I find quite strange that nobody has ever built something that would use this method..

Thanks,

rjanoo

Some sound would still be transferred through the shared floor contact. The biggest problem is how do you support the air pressure trying to push the two cubes together? Let's say that you have a ten ft cube for your room. the force trying to push the inner walls out to the outer walls would be ~ 504 tons, the same with the force pushing in on the outer walls. You would need some strong material to keep the space between the walls from buckling. I have a feeling that standard sound proofing is much more cost effective.

You would also need a connection/tunnel for getting in and out. The cost of building a large space that can maintain a high vacuum would be prohibitive. The standard sound proofing techniques are (relatively) cheap and generally good enough.

Ok, I think I know where I made a mistake in my calculations..

Please correct me if I am wrong: 100% Vacuum would be of a pressure of 101325 Pa, = 101 325 N/sq m.. This force, when used with gravity acceleration 9.8m/s-2, and knowing that force of gravity Fg = m x g, would give a result 10339kg/sqm..
And thats where I think I made a mistake, I used grams instead of kilograms.. 10tons per sqm, thats a huge load..
Would that calculation be correct?

The Problem with Standard soundproofing are the low frequencies.. A big, massive multilayered walls are required to get some decent isolation, of a STC Class 60 or higher.. I did some research on this topic..
Thats why I thought that vacuum might do better in low frequencies..
And what about vacuum isolated Panels, used in windows nowadays? I know they are a lot less then 100% vacuum, but that might be enough to soundproof a room..

Originally Posted by rjanoo

The Problem with Standard soundproofing are the low frequencies.. A big, massive multilayered walls are required to get some decent isolation, of a STC Class 60 or higher.. I did some research on this topic..
Thats why I thought that vacuum might do better in low frequencies..
And what about vacuum isolated Panels, used in windows nowadays? I know they are a lot less then 100% vacuum, but that might be enough to soundproof a room..

You can eliminate low-frequency sound with 'sound-cancelling-speakers'. It is a sound system used in airplane cabin and in hi-tech headphone to cancel noise. High-frequency sound can be insulated with padding-material, while low-frequency sound can be eliminated with electronic countermeasure...

Originally Posted by rjanoo

Hello everybody,

I have just one question for you, which I can't find answer for, so I thought you guys from science might know the answer..

Could vacuum pressure be used in soundproofing?

There's no doubt it would work--nothing for sound to travel in. But it would be much more expensive than other techniques that are almost as good for a tiny fraction of the cost such as several layers of sheet rock.

hi,
*I hope this thread isn't too old...

I'm conducting an experiment on piezoelectric sensors, and it order to eliminate low frequency sound waves I've constructed a small container for vacuum soundproofing the piezo' sensor.

unfortunatly I need some indication for the proper math behind the propagation of sound wave through a vacuum environment.
I can reach about 0.01 torr with my equipment.
how can I calculate the noise attenuation I receive in dB? Are there any specifications for low-frequency sound waves?

thank you for any type of help or referrals

Originally Posted by msafwan

Originally Posted by rjanoo

The Problem with Standard soundproofing are the low frequencies.. A big, massive multilayered walls are required to get some decent isolation, of a STC Class 60 or higher.. I did some research on this topic..
Thats why I thought that vacuum might do better in low frequencies..
And what about vacuum isolated Panels, used in windows nowadays? I know they are a lot less then 100% vacuum, but that might be enough to soundproof a room..

You can eliminate low-frequency sound with 'sound-cancelling-speakers'. It is a sound system used in airplane cabin and in hi-tech headphone to cancel noise. High-frequency sound can be insulated with padding-material, while low-frequency sound can be eliminated with electronic countermeasure...

Is this really expensive to create?

Totally off topic bewilderment...

But this thread has only 8 replies and over a thousand views. It stands out like a big fat swollen sore thumb. I wonder what happened to cause that many views in comparison with the many other threads...

You need to discover what kind of structure and material you need to prevent the vacuum from collapsing.
Perhaps you should use virtual 3D modeling software to think up concepts virtually. If I may suggest 3D modeling software