Urban ambient outdoor and indoor noise exposure at home: A population-based study on schoolchildren

To investigate residential exposure to environmental noise among children in an urban area, a noise measurement campaign was performed at the residences of 44 schoolchildren. Outdoor and indoor noise levels were simultaneously recorded during one week inside and outside each child’s bedroom and in the other room where each child spent most of his or her time, called “the main room”. Associations between equivalent noise levels and familial or environmental characteristics were explored.The recorded equivalent continuous sound levels (L_Aeq) were prone to large variability between dwellings regardless of the measurement location and time of day. Factors linked to outdoor noise level differed from those associated with indoor noise level. Indoor noise levels were associated with the number of children present and noise sources present in the dwelling, whereas outdoor L_Aeq depended significantly on the socio-economic status (SES) of the household. An association was found between the type of view from the window and outdoor L_Aeq, but no significant association was observed between view from the window and indoor L_Aeq. These results support a complex link between noise exposure and the characteristics of the dwelling and of the family, and highlight the contribution of the indoor noise sources to the ambient noise level.Considering the observed acoustic levels and their variability, the sensitivity of children to noise, and the length of time they spend at home, research efforts are needed to better quantify noise exposure at home if the actual burden of noise on child health is to be identified.     

Dynamic Study of a Structure with Flexion-Torsion Coupling in the Presence of Dry Friction

In aero engines, blade vibrations are frequently reduced by centrifugal flyweights, which exert a dry friction force per unit length under blade platforms. The response of this system to a periodic load has been analysed experimentally and theoretically. From a model having mode shapes similar to those of a blade, and a dry friction link per unit length, we show that the presence of the dry friction link is very effective in reducing vibrations for a range of excitation loads. The theoretical analysis is based on the Craig and Bampton mode synthesis, the rigid movement of the platform in its plane and the replacing of the linear dry friction link by several discrete parallel systems. Direct integration of the equations of motion is carried out by using the Newmark method. The comparison with experimental results is good. This method can easily be extended to more complex structures and shows that the dry friction link is effective when stick-slip occurs in the contact zone by limiting the energy provided to the system.