Simply replacing ordinary screws with this spring-loaded screw can result in a sound reduction of nine decibels.
We've all been there before. You're trying to get some sleep only to be disturbed by the neighbors' noise. Indeed, noise pollution can be a majorly disconcerting problem. But what if the solution was not more plaster on the walls but rather a simple spring-loaded screw?
That's what a researcher at Malmö University believes. Håkan Wernersson, based at the Department of Materials Science and Applied Mathematics, has developed a screw that can halve the perceived sound level of any building and this is great news not only for residents but for construction workers as well.
“With our screw, you can mount plasterboard directly to the walls, freeing up floor space, and a square meter of floor space can be worth thousands,” said in a statement Wernersson, who developed the screw in collaboration with an acoustician.
It requires no thicker walls, no thicker floors, no additional insulation or building elements and expensive acoustic profiles. You simply replace the ordinary screws in your building design with this special screw to get all the benefits of reduced noise pollution.
It works pretty simply by limiting the transmission of the vibrations into the drywall. The screw, which is split in the middle with a spring placed inside, breaks sound waves. The screw tip goes into the wooden joist, the head keeps the plasterboard in place, and a thin robust mechanical coupling is established between them to prevent sound waves from advancing. As a result, people in a room equipped with the special screw hear less of the noise. “The dynamic causes the soundwaves to be dampened,” explained Wernersson.
The screw has been tested at The Sound Research Laboratories in the U.K., at the Technical University in Denmark, and at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB. Mechanical. Tests in the sound labs show a sound reduction of nine decibels for a traditional drywall. This corresponds to a halving of the perceived sound level.
But for now, the revolutionary screw is still experimental. “It has not entered the market yet, and we, therefore, need more examples of projects or installations where the screws are used,” said Wernersson.
Source: https://interestingengineering.com/this-spring-loaded-screw-is-the-future-of-soundproofing