New Turf and Woven Vinyl Acoustical Test Data from Ecore – IIC and HIIC

Author: Justin Reidling, Acoustical Engineer

As a leader in acoustic products and testing, Ecore commissions third party testing for a range of products. In December 2021, laboratory testing was conducted on these Ecore vulcanized composition rubber (VCR) backed performance floor surfaces:

The RageTurf and FlexTurf (and FierceTurf) product families were introduced in 2021 to support functional training, sled work, and other activities suited to turf. Ebb and Flow Motivate combine Ecore’s Motivate base layer with a Woven Vinyl surface layer to create a sophisticated look and feel with added safety and ergonomic benefits. The subject acoustical testing demonstrates the acoustical performance of the surfaces.

The Table below summarizes the results.

IIC and HIIC

IIC stands for Impact Insulation Class, and it measures the level of structure-borne sound isolation between two spaces. In other words, it describes how much the noise from impacts on the floor above is reduced. Increasing numbers correspond with increasing performance.

RageTurf dBTile achieved Impact Insulation Class 72. Not to be outdone, RageTurf UltraTile achieved IIC 74. This is an unexpected result, because intuitively the thicker tile should perform better acoustically – and UltraTile is the thinner product. Consider the charts below:

Note that the peak of the curve, which is the dip in performance, is shifted left (toward lower frequencies) for the RageTurf dBTile. The resulting performance at frequencies 250 Hz through 2000 Hz is better than that of RageTurf UltraTile. As a tradeoff, the peak is higher (louder) and is an 8-point limiter for the IIC rating.[1] By shifting its frequency dip in performance lower, RageTurf dBTile performs as well or better than RageTurf UltraTile in more frequency bands, while it sacrifices its single-number rating.

This phenomenon is further described by the High-Frequency Impact Insulation Class (HIIC). HIIC is a single-number rating measured simultaneously with IIC and limited to the frequencies from 400 Hz to 3150 Hz. HIIC describes the noise reduction of impacts caused by hard-heeled shoes and dragging furniture for example. RageTurf UltraTile achieved HIIC 83 and RageTurf dBTile achieved a much higher HIIC 90.

Ebb & Flow, which achieved IIC 55 and HIIC 61, would be an inappropriate comparison to the turf products, because Ebb & Flow’s vinyl top manages energy differently than turf’s carpet-like nap. Nonetheless, the performance ratings demonstrate Ebb & Flow’s ability to reduce noise, especially the noise due to low-force impacts.