Marine Acoustic Flooring Systems for Commercial Vessels

A marine floating floor is a layered assembly laid on the deck in which a rock wool core separates an upper deck screed from a lower galvanised steel plate, so the walking surface is no longer rigidly connected to the ship’s structure. That mass-spring-mass arrangement is what reduces airborne sound transmission between the space above and the space below. Our four systems deliver a weighted airborne sound reduction index of 46 dB to 56 dB in laboratory sound insulation testing.

The visco-elastic film is sheared in between two stiff skins, which converts bending energy into heat. In our build-ups DP-SDI is applied at 1.5 mm ±0.5 mm and constrained by galvanised steel plate.

Airborne noise travels through the air and crosses a deck or bulkhead as a partition, so it is reduced by mass and by decoupling. Structure-borne noise travels inside the steel itself from the engine room, propeller excitation and hull girder vibration, and it re-radiates as sound wherever a plate is free to vibrate. A floating floor mainly addresses the first path, while a damping coating on the plate addresses the second.

A primary deck covering is the base layer applied to the bare steel deck, approved under MED item 3.1, and its job is levelling and fire behaviour. A floating floor is an A-class division assembly approved under MED item 3.11a, and that approval is for fire integrity; its airborne sound insulation is a product property established by separate laboratory testing rather than by the MED item. They are separate items on a specification, and a primary deck covering is not an acoustic product category.

Rw is a single-number rating of airborne sound insulation, derived from measurements across a frequency range and weighted into one figure so that constructions can be compared. It describes the construction that was tested in a laboratory, between two rooms, under controlled conditions, and the weighting method itself comes from ISO 717-1, a building acoustics standard that marine suppliers borrow rather than a marine-specific rating. It is not a cabin noise level, it is not a structure-borne attenuation figure, and it does not survive an installation in which the floating layer is bridged to the structure.

The ones that matter are fire certifications: type approval from the classification society for your vessel, EC type examination under the Marine Equipment Directive for European Union flagged tonnage, and fire test evidence to the IMO 2010 FTP Code. Our systems hold nine such certificates across DNV, CCS and NK, listed with their numbers and expiry dates in the certificates table above, and the EC type examinations were issued through Notified Body 0098 with the A-class items under MED item 3.11a and the coverings under MED item 3.1. None of these certifies acoustic performance, because the regulations set no acoustic requirement on deck materials, so the Rw figures on this page rest on separate laboratory sound insulation testing instead.

Work from areal weight against the airborne Rw you need, and read the two figures together rather than one at a time. YB-LdB-1 gives 46 dB at ≤27.45 kg/m² on A-0 boundaries, YB-A60-7 gives 49 dB at ≤45.8 kg/m² with an A-60 rating, and YB-A60FIII-1 gives 56 dB at ≤63.88 kg/m² in a 71.5 mm build-up, so the step from the lightest system to the quietest one costs 36.43 kg/m² for 10 dB across the treated area. YB-HdB-5 is heavier again at ≤67.63 kg/m² and is quieter only than the two lighter systems, because its ≥8 MPa flexural strength is specified for point loading rather than for acoustics, which is why deck loading and acoustic targets belong in the enquiry as two separate lines.

Three of the four systems are approved as A-60 constructions and the lightweight system is approved as A-0, with the certificate numbers and validity dates listed in the certificates table above, and fire testing is to the IMO 2010 FTP Code covering non-combustibility in Part 1, smoke and toxicity in Part 2, and surface flammability in Part 5 for the damping coating. The rating applies to the assembly as tested, including the steel substrate, the layer sequence, the welded frame detail and the perimeter packing, so a model number does not carry an A-60 rating around with it independently of how the floor is built into the deck. Ask in writing which construction a certificate was issued against before any of those elements is changed on the drawing.

Both are available, and they are quoted as separate scope lines. The sub-floor build-up and the deck screed are our standard scope, while PVC sheet, vinyl, epoxy and synthetic teak finishes can be included when they are written into the order. If your interior contractor is supplying the finish, we confirm the screed density, the compressive strength and the surface condition their material needs.

The interface is normally set at the top of our screed, with our scope ending at a level and fire-documented surface and the finish supplier’s scope starting there. We issue the screed properties and the flatness achieved so their material can be specified against real figures. Fixing that interface before the enquiry goes out is what prevents the two quotations from overlapping or leaving a gap.

The technical data sheet, the batch record and copies of the type-approval certificates travel with the goods. The batch record is what a class surveyor asks for at the joining survey.

Our normal minimum order is one 20-foot container load, and smaller quantities are quoted on the drawing. Standard terms are a 30% deposit on order confirmation and the 70% balance against a copy of the bill of lading, and an irrevocable letter of credit at sight is also accepted. We ship FOB a Chinese port, with other Incoterms available on request.

An engineer returns the quotation within 24 hours on business days. Small-batch orders ship in 3 to 4 weeks and production runs in 6 to 8 weeks, both measured from drawing approval.