All types of manufacturing facilities – recycling plants, automotive manufacturers, power generation plants, food manufacturers and more – use machinery that can be linked to harmful and disruptive noises coming right from their production floor. Further, their equipment – rotors, gears, fans, pumps, internal combustion engines, and more used for processes like riveting, crushing, punch presses, drilling, filling, capping, lathing, and more – causes the noise from manufacturing, to be one of the top occupational hazards classified by OSHA.

And as we’ve discussed previously, excessive manufacturing noise can have long-term harmful effects on not only employees at the plant, but also the residential and business neighbors close to the manufacturing facility.

In fact, every year, approximately 22 million workers in the United States are exposed to hazardous noise in the workplace which may result in temporary or permanent hearing loss, creates physical and psychological stress, reduces productivity, interferes with communication and concentration, and contributes to workplace accidents and injuries by making it difficult to hear warning signals.

As such, it’s important as an employer and as a good neighbor to consider evaluating the noise sources and pursue sound-dampening solutions to deal with the noise coming from the manufacturing facility.

Reduce Noise With Sonic-Shield’s Acoustical Curtain

At Sonic-Shield, we’ve developed a modular sound dampening Acoustical Curtain consisting of our 1-pound-per-square-foot Sonic-Shield® Noise Barrier together with our 2-inch thick Sonic Fiber sound absorption material.

We believe that Sonic Curtains offer a better alternative to the typical quilted ‘acoustic blankets,’ which have limited abilities to block and absorb sound.

Each standard size curtain measures 54 inches by 96 inches and weighs approximately 50 pounds. Custom sizes are available, and the curtains come with high-quality hook-and-loop fasteners on the edges and grommets on the top.

Acoustical Curtain Applications

• Construction sites, both indoor and outdoor
• Enclosures for industrial equipment, such as punch presses, blowers, drop saws, granulators and generators
• Portable acoustic curtains draped over fencing to create an acoustic barrier
• Suspend from uni-strut systems or other structures to quiet noise from traffic, pumps, air conditioners, generators, or other equipment
• Noise curtain for portable mobile equipment, including jackhammers, drilling rigs and pile drivers

Customized Sizes & Attributes

For applications where visual inspection of a noise source is needed, a ‘vision port’ of 22 inches by 12 inches can be inserted into a curtain. And for outdoor applications, a special weather-resistant curtain is available using an additional Tyvek covering that is often recommended depending on local weather conditions.

Materials

Sonic Curtains are made from the combination of two materials, Sonic-Shield® noise barrier and Sonic Fiber sound absorbing mineral wool. Our barrier material is a high-performance, flexible mass-loaded vinyl noise barrier, offering superior acoustic transmission loss.

Our noise barrier product is a cast product instead of an extruded product, giving it a higher tensile strength. Designed to meet market requirements, it has been effectively used to reduce noise in building, commercial, and industrial markets, globally.

It has been developed to be dense, thin, highly flexible, tear-resistant and strong, giving our barrier product high transmission loss throughout the various weight ranges.

Our Sonic Fiber is a semi-flexible non-asbestos 2-inch thick mineral wool that provides greater sound attenuation than fiberglass bats or urethane foam. It is covered in an industrial grade high temperature woven fabric that repels water, is fire resistant, and does not promote mold growth.

This combination provides outstanding soundproofing capabilities (26 STC, 1.0 NRC) in a modular, durable, attractive and easy-to-use package. For indoor applications, it can be hung from walls to reduce sound transmission through the walls and reduce acoustical reverberations within rooms as seen above.

Features

• Uses a flexible sound barrier product
• Effective performance over the full frequency spectrum
• High tensile strength
• High-quality hook-and-loop fastener on the edges and grommets on the top
• No ozone depleting substances
• Resistant to most chemicals, solvents and petroleum products
• Resistant to weather and UV light
• Tear resistant, tolerating high wind conditions
• Able to attach with Velcro, eyelets and/or grommets
• Vision port inserts are available for custom orders