Sound deadner

[Second Skin Rep]

I question whether the thickness of the constraining layer is important to absorbing vibrations. Typically its just a thick layer of aluminum foil thats sole purpose is to give the butyl something to stick to.

The purpose of the foil is not to give the butyl somthing to stick to.
The foil is the CONSTRAINING LAYER in the phrase CONSTRAINT LAYER DAMPER.
The thicker or stronger the foil is, the better it constrains the adhesive layer below it. The more that layer is constrained the more vibrations are converted in to heat (usualy only 1 degree f. at most). This is a much more efficienct means of vibration reduction. The conversion of energy is where it is at!

The only real reason for a thicker constraining layer is for heat dispersion.

If that were the case the foil would not be referred to as a constraining layer. It would be called a heat sheild, or a heat dispersion layer, or something else.

Really, I am not making this stuff up. There is an entire science behind it.

A thinner foil layer makes installation easier

True, but even so, installing a thick foil layer is not difficult by any means.
If they have 2 hands, a 1st grader can do it with ease.
If you have a difficult time installing a product with a 6 mil foil but have no problem installing one with a 2 mil foil, you have much bigger problems than these.

A thinner foil layer makes installation easier and allows for the use of more butyl rubber within the same thickness range. Example: Product A - 4mil constraining +61 mil butyl. Product B - 1mil comstraining +64mil butyl... both A & B are 65mil mat)

Eh.. not really.

If a company wanted to invest in a thicker butyl adhesive layer, it could do so with very little price increase. About 2 - 3 cents per sq foot by adding butyl or for free by adding air pockets
Foil on the other hand costs about $.10 - .$15 psf for every mil you add past 3.
Skimping on the foil to add more butyl is not an efficient way to increase results.

I would rather have a product that was 40 mils thick with 6 mils of foil, than 60 mils thick with 4 mils of foil any day of the week. The foil is what does the work!

You want to know why Damplifier is 25% thinner than Dynamat Extreme and has the same exact weight?
The foil is the same thickness and weight so it can't be that.

1. Higher quality butyl has higher density mineral filler
2. Our anti-foaming agent forces air bubbles to the surface during the hot mixing process which make the product weigh more per gallon.



We can take a 100 gallon batch of butyl, remove the antifoaming agent, and leave the mixer on for a few hours extra and force more airbubbles in to the mix. This will increase the volume of the batch from 100 to 120 gallons. The weight however will not change. The extra volume comes from air! Then we could laminate the foil and wax paper and rapidly cool the batch, trapping the air bubbles in the mix and have a thicker product that weighs no more than a thinner product. Just looks thicker

Just like the bar of soap that floats in the bath tub. Higher air content makes it weigh less than the water does so it floats on the water. A cool selling point but, you actually get less soap per bar than with the soap that sinks in the water. All marketing!!

Being your sticking the mat to a metal surface, adding 4 mil of aluminum to it hardly seems like it would make a difference.

The foil is not doing much in terms of adding strength to the sheet metal. It is adding the strrength and stiffness to the butyl. Even though the difference between 4 and 6 mils might not be much tot he human eye, to the huma ear, it makes a huge difference.

Hope that helps!
ANT