Einrichtung | Zentrum für Bauphysik (ZFB)

The laboratory building of the building physics course (ZFB) is located outside the city centre on the campus of the University of Stuttgart, in the district of Stuttgart-Vaihingen. Directions can be found in the following PDF file.

Directions to ZFB

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The laboratory building of the building physics course consists of a hall wing with various acoustic test facilities and test setups as well as a three-storey office section on the north facade. The acoustic test facilities are state-of-the-art and are among the most modern in Europe. Thus, the Research Field Building Acoustics has access to unique building acoustic testing and research facilities in the university sector.

The core of the test hall is formed by the following acoustic test rigs, some of whose concepts and acoustic designs were developed in-house at the HFT Stuttgart.

Wall test bench
Flank test bench
Combination test bench
reverberation room
Low-reflection room
Receiving plate test bench

The wall test stand consists of two completely separate rooms. The two installation frames are solidly connected to the flanking walls for better energy dissipation. The flanking transmission via the ceiling and walls is prevented by facing shells mounted on the room side. One of the two acoustically separated bases on which the test walls are placed is elastically supported by a sylomer mat, the second base is firmly connected to the floor. This results in different edge losses, depending on the installation location. The influence of this different bedding on the structure-borne sound reverberation time of two identical sand-lime brick walls could be demonstrated within the framework of a research project with elastic connection of the walls to the test rig.

PDF-Description (german)

Aufnahme einer Einrichtung der Bauphysik

Wall test bench

The flank test rig is used to determine the acoustic properties of the flanking components. In this test rig, both the flank insulation dimension Rij for characterizing the entire flanking transmission and the joint insulation dimension Kij for characterizing the joint can be determined. The test stand is designed according to "EN 10848: Acoustics- Laboratory measurement of the flanking transmission of airborne and impact noise between adjoining rooms" in its dimensions. It consists of two completely acoustically separated rooms. These two rooms can be separated by a highly sound-absorbing partition wall or by a heavy solid partition wall, depending on the problem.

PDF-Description (german)

Flank test bench

The combination test stand consists of 3 pairs of rooms on top of each other with the possibility to determine the sound insulation level of doors, windows and ceilings as well as the improvement level of floor coverings. The wide range of possible combinations of the individual test rooms, measurement directions and installation options allows a large number of different acoustic measurement tasks. It is therefore not only suitable for the standard-compliant performance of numerous building acoustic tests, but is also available for a wide range of special tasks in teaching, research and development. The test stand is, like all others, placed on a base plate that is decoupled from structure-borne noise. By means of circumferential parting lines, the respective rooms standing one above the other are separated from the adjacent rooms. The flanking components of the rooms are equipped with facing shells for side-track-free measurement of airborne and impact sound insulation.

PDF-Description (german)

ein Steg und eine Treppe in einem großen Raum

Combination test bench

The measurements in a reverberation chamber are based on the assumption of a diffuse sound field. Therefore a sufficient number of natural frequencies per one-third octave or octave band must be available. DIN EN 20354 requires a minimum volume of 150 m³, for new buildings a volume of approximately 200 m³. Furthermore, there are requirements for the maximum dimension in relation to the volume and diffusers are needed to increase the diffusion of the sound field. According to DIN EN 20354, the reverberation chamber is suitable for measurements of the equivalent sound absorption area or the sound absorption coefficient in one-third octaves from a centre frequency of 100 Hz and higher. Its volume is 203 m³ (calibrated according to DIN EN ISO 354).

PDF-Description (german)

reverberation room

The defined sound field conditions of an acoustic free field are required for numerous problems. Acoustic free field means that the sound can propagate unhindered and no reflections from any obstacles occur. If this is to be realised in closed rooms under laboratory conditions, this is done in the so-called anechoic chamber. As one of the classic test facilities for acoustic research and development, it ensures with its special highly absorptive equipment that the sound waves are almost completely "swallowed" at the room boundaries. The high acoustic requirements for the low-reflection half space of the HFT Stuttgart were successfully verified by measurements of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB).

PDF-Description (german)

Low-reflection room

The receiver plate test stand developed at the HFT Stuttgart consists of three independent receiver plates that simulate a corner of a room in the building. Sound sources whose structure-borne sound power is to be determined can be installed in this test bench.

Possible applications include all types of structure-borne noise sources in buildings, such as sanitary installations (bathtubs, showers, whirlpools, pipes), technical installations (heating appliances, drive motors, transformers, door openers), household appliances (refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers) etc.