Active noise control with linear control source and sensor arrays for a noise barrier

A study is conducted on minimizing the sum of the squared acoustic pressures with a linear array of control sources and a perpendicular linear array of error sensors, placed above the top of a noise barrier. Particular angular orientations, with respect to the center of the barrier top, and spacings of the linear arrays of control sources and error sensors result in moderate to significant additional reduction of the acoustic pressure in the shadow zone. Visual inspection of the sound pressure field, with and without active noise control, found that uniform and significant additional insertion loss can be generated near the barrier. Numerical simulations were conducted to test the proposed method. For separations between control sources and error sensors much less than a quarter wavelength of the primary noise disturbance, results show that the angular orientation, of the combined linear control source and sensor arrays, is a weak factor for acoustic pressure reduction in the shadow zone. Weak angle dependence serves as an advantage to the proposed method, which yields uniform performance for any angular orientation. An angular orientation involving the alignment of the furthest error sensor with the first diffracting edge of the barrier and the primary source was observed to perform well for a variety of frequencies, since the spacing between error sensors and between control sources is of the order of a quarter-wavelength. Improved noise control in the shadow zone of a barrier is achieved by the use of two control sources and angular orientation as mentioned above. Further spatial extension of the area of reduced acoustic pressure is possible by utilizing an increased number of control sources.     

Optimal acoustic error sensing for global active control in a harmonically excited enclosure

The performance of an active control system in global control of enclosed sound fields depends largely on the localization of the error sensors, among other factors. In this paper a modified cost function is proposed in order to guarantee the maximum attenuation that can be produced by a set of secondary sources in the case of an harmonically excited sound field. The cost function is modified in order to drive the error signal to the value corresponding to the optimally attenuated sound field, instead of minimizing the squared pressure. To evaluate the performance of the proposed control system, its robustness against unstructured error is also investigated using a set of intensive calculations. Following this approach, the sensors can be located anywhere and the optimal attenuation is reached using an equal number of error sensors and secondary sources. The results also suggest that the greater the number of error sensors than secondary sources the more robust the control system is. This behavior holds for both the usual strategy of minimizing the squared pressure and the approach presented in this paper. However, the latter strategy is more robust than the traditional approach of minimizing the squared pressures and its robustness does not depend on the location of the error sensors. Thus, as a main conclusion, the use of the new cost function leads to a guaranteed efficiency and a more robust control system and gives absolute freedom in selecting the location of the error sensors.     

A parametric investigation of the performance of T-profiled highway noise barriers and the identification of a potential predictive approach

Although a considerable amount of research has been undertaken regarding the performance of T-profile noise barriers, the information available to the practicing highway engineer is confusing. For example, there is a widespread belief that the performance of a top edge, expressed as an insertion loss relative to that of the simple barrier on which it is mounted, is constant, irrespective of the relative locations of the source, barrier and receiver. In order to clarify the situation an investigation has been undertaken, using computer modelling, of the performance afforded by highway noise barriers with T-profile tops with different acoustic treatments. The relative insertion loss was found to increase systematically with increasing top width. Although the relative insertion loss afforded by a reflective T-top is small, significant attenuation can be obtained with an absorptive top. Examination of the effect on performance of the locations of source and receiver relative to that of the noise barrier indicated that, for source and receiver locations typical of those experienced for highway noise barriers, the relative insertion loss for a given width of T-top was a function of (a) the path difference between sound travelling to the receiver via the barrier top and direct sound from the source to the receiver and (b) the barrier height. Plots of relative insertion loss versus the path difference, normalised with respect to barrier heights, for a range of T-top widths and absorbent treatment, resulted in a collapse of data around well defined trend lines which offer the potential of being developed into a prediction method.     

复杂声学环境中人耳附近空间有源降噪研究综述

复杂声学环境中人耳附近空间降噪是有源噪声控制研究的重要课题,目前采用的主要方法为有源降噪头靠(AHR)和虚拟声屏障(VSB).本文简述AHR与VSB的发展历史和研究现状,介绍其物理原理和设计方法,评述其在实际应用中的优缺点,讨论了目前存在的问题与未来相关的研究方向.已有理论、数值仿真和实验研究验证了相关技术在人耳附近空间产生静区的可行性. AHR系统需要较少控制源,系统相对简单易实现,但静区范围较小,结合虚拟传声器技术和人头跟踪技术后可实现随人头移动的静区,降噪频率可达中高频; VSB产生的静区范围较大,但控制源个数较多,系统复杂和成本高,可通过代价函数和控制源优化,以及主被动混合控制技术来提高有效降噪频率范围和减少控制源个数.     

The active minimization of harmonic enclosed sound fields,part II: A computer simulation

This paper is Part II in a series of three papers on the active minimization of harmonic enclosed sound fields. In Part I it was shown that in order to achieve appreciable reductions in the total time averaged acoustic potential energy, E_p, in an enclosed sound field of high modal density then the primary and secondary sources must be separated by less than one half wavelength, even when a relatively large number of secondary sources are used. In this report the same theoretical basis is used to investigate the application of active control to sound fields of low modal density. By the use of a computer model of a shallow rectangular enclosure it is demonstrated that whilst the reductions in E_p which can be achieved are still critically dependent on the source locations, the criteria governing the levels of reduction are somewhat different. In particular it is shown that for a lightly damped sound field of low modal density substantial reductions in E_p can be achieved by using a single secondary source placed greater than half a wavelength from the primary source, provided that the source is placed at a maximum of the primary sound field. The problems of applying this idealized form of active noise control are then discussed, and a more practical method is presented. This involves the sampling of the sound field at a number of discrete sensor locations, and then minimizing the sum of the squared pressures at these locations. Again by use of the computer model of a shallow rectangular enclosure, the effects of the number of sensors and of the locations of these sensors are investigated. It is demonstrated that when a single mode dominates the response near optimal reductions in E_p can be achieved by minimizing the pressure at a single sensor, provided the sensor is at a maximum of the primary sound field. When two or three modes dominate the response it is found that if only a limited number of sensors are available then minimizing the sum of the squared pressures in the corners of the enclosure gives the best reductions in E_p. The reasons for this behaviour are discussed.     

Incorporation of loudness measures in active noise control

An attempt has been made to use a modified version of a standard active noise control algorithm in order to take into account the unique response of the human auditory system. It has been shown in the past that decreasing the sound pressure level at a location does not guarantee a similar decrease in the perceived loudness at that location. Typically, active noise control is based on minimizing the "error signal" from a mechanical device such as a microphone, whose response is nominally flat across the frequency response range of the human ear. However, if the response of the ear can be approximated by digitally filtering the error signal before it reaches the adaptive controller, one can, in effect, minimize the more subjective loudness level, as opposed to the sound pressure level. The work reported here entails simulating active noise control based upon minimizing perceived loudness for a collection of input noise signals. A comparison of the loudness of the resulting error signal is made to the loudness of that resulting from standard sound pressure level minimization. It has been found that the effectiveness of this technique is largely dependent upon the nature of the input noise signal. Furthermore, this technique is judged to be worth considering for use with applications of active noise control where the uncontrolled noise more prominently constitutes low range audio frequencies (approximately 30 Hz-100 Hz) than medium range audio frequencies (approximately 300 Hz-600 Hz).     

Performance of a noise barrier within an enclosed space

The present study involved experimental, theoretical, and numerical analyses of the insertion loss provided by rigid noise barriers in an enclosed space. The existing classical diffuse-field theory may be unable to predict the actual sound pressure level distribution and barrier insertion loss for indoor applications. Although predictions made by the ray tracing method at high frequencies are reasonably satisfactory, the method is computer-intensive and time-consuming. We propose a new formula that incorporates the effects of diffraction theory and the reflection of sound between room surfaces. Our results indicate that the present formula provides more realistic and practical predictions of the barrier insertion loss than existing approaches.     

Noise barrier optimization using a simulated annealing algorithm

This paper presents a novel method to design a desired noise barrier using the global optimization of a simulated annealing (SA) algorithm. This method focuses on minimizing the barrier dimensions, which are related to material and construction costs, as well as satisfying the target sound pressure levels at receiver points on the condition of traffic noise. Various examples are presented to evaluate the optimized barrier dimensions according to given traffic noise sources, ground topography, surface conditions, and the influence of different receiver positions. As a result, a robust method is found that can determine optimized barrier configurations and dimensions that yield cost reductions.     

Implementation of active noise control in a multi-modal spray dryer exhaust stack

Tonal noise emitted from large-diameter spray dryer exhaust stacks used in the dairy industry can give rise to complaints from nearby communities. In many cases, the tone at the fan blade passing frequency is characterized by a frequency above the first mode cut on frequency of the exhaust stack and both its amplitude and the frequency are time varying. The variation in amplitude is a result of turbulence and temperature variations in the duct which cause angular variations in the nodal plane of modes with diametrical nodes. This in turn results in large fluctuations in sound pressure with time at any specified location in the duct, thus presenting a significant challenge for an ANC system with fixed control source and error sensor locations. In many food processing industries, the use of sound absorptive materials in silencers is not acceptable and, particularly when the fan speed is variable, it is difficult to achieve an acceptable passive solution at a reasonable cost. Here, the design and implementation of an active noise control system for tonal noise propagating above the cut-on frequency of the first higher order mode in large size cylindrical industrial exhaust stack is discussed, where the frequency and amplitude vary significantly and relatively rapidly with time. Physical system design principles and control algorithm optimization for a practical active noise control system are presented. Finally, real time control results which were achieved by a prototype installation on a large-diameter, in-service exhaust stack are given. Significant noise reductions were achieved in the community.     

基于脉冲声分离的刚性球散射声控制

提出了一种基于脉冲声的三维空间中刚性球散射声分离方法,并利用前馈、固定系数控制方式对分离出的散射声进行有源控制,抑制散射声强度,实现了刚性球散射体在观测点处“声学不可见”。该方法利用脉冲信号作为初级噪声,通过有无刚性球时传声器采集脉冲信号的差值确定散射声大小,实现散射声与声源直达声的分离。对分离出的散射声进行多通道有源控制以验证该文所提分离方法及控制系统的有效性。实验结果表明,700~1000 Hz范围内,有源控制开启后,双通道散射声的平均降噪量大于5 dB,多通道散射声的平均降噪量大于8 dB,且误差传声器处采集的残余声场与无刚性球时采集的初级声场信号波形基本一致,实现了刚性球散射体在误差传声器处“声学不可见”。此外,参考传声器布放位置的选取问题也在该文做了详细讨论。     

Error sensor location optimization for active soft edge noise barrier

Active control is used to improve the performance of noise barrier at low-frequency range and the excess insertion loss due to the active control system is influenced by the positions of the error sensors. The positional optimization for the error sensors in an active soft edge noise barrier was investigated. Both numerical simulations and experiments show that there is an optimum in the distance between the secondary sources and the error sensors, and that the error sensors should be placed above the secondary sources.     

Performance of an independent planar virtual sound barrier at the opening of a rectangular enclosure

Planar virtual sound barrier systems have been used successfully to reduce noise radiation through an opening without affecting natural ventilation and lighting. However, the complexity of a fully coupled control system grows at the rate proportional to the square of the number of channels and this make the system implementation become impractical for enclosures with large openings. To reduce the system complexity, this paper proposes an independent planar virtual sound barrier, which is a multi-channel system consisting of many independent single channel active noise control systems. Each single channel system is “independent” in the sense that the control source output of the system is updated only with the signal from its own error sensor. Based on the analytical model of sound radiation through the opening of a rectangular enclosure, the transfer functions from both primary and control sources are calculated first. Then the noise reduction performance, the stability, and the convergence behavior of both fully coupled and independent planar virtual sound barrier systems are investigated. It is found that the independent system with no control output constraint becomes inherently unstable at some frequencies; however its stability can be improved by applying some control output constraint. Reducing the number of channels and the distance between secondary loudspeakers and error microphones can also increase system stability but at the cost of smaller noise reduction. When the system is inherently stable and there is no constraint on control output, the independent system can provide the same noise reduction as the fully coupled one but with faster convergence speed.     

NUMERICAL MODELLING OF MEDIAN ROAD TRAFFIC NOISE BARRIERS

Outdoor sound propagation from road traffic is modelled by solving a boundary integral equation formulation of the wave equation using boundary element techniques in two dimensions. In the first model, the source representing a traffic stream can be considered as a coherent line source of sound. The results can then be transformed to derive a pseudo-three dimensional solution to the problem. In the second model the line source is incoherent. For receivers near the ground, the second model predicted significantly higher values of ground attenuation than the first. The first model generally produced better agreement with ground attenuation results obtained using the U.K. traffic noise prediction model. For conditions when a noise barrier was present and the ground was absorbent, the incoherent line source model generally predicted significantly higher values of attenuation than those from the barrier and ground attenuation calculated separately. Over a range of receiver positions and barrier heights a similar, but less marked effect was observed when the coherent line source model was used. On dual carriageway roads, it is possible to incorporate barriers on the central reservation as a noise control measure. These are “median” noise barriers. The incoherent line source model is used to assess the performance of median barriers in reducing noise when installed alone and also with associated roadside barriers. A sound absorbent median noise barrier 1m in height produced consistent values of insertion loss of between 1 and 2dB over the range of receiver positions and ground conditions considered. When the median barrier was used in conjunction with a roadside barrier it produced a consistent improvement in insertion loss of between 1 and 2 dB over the range of conditions considered.     

Simulations and experiments for hybrid noise control systems

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of sound elimination in a cylindrical duct by combining a reactive muffler and active noise control (ANC) system. Besides the exploration via experiment of the combined noise control system, a Grey prediction based on Grey theory is also applied to ANC for this hybrid system.In the experiment for this system, a combined adaptive algorithm is adopted. The results of sound elimination are compared between cases with ANC systems installed before the muffler and after the muffler. The results indicate that the sequence of arrangement of muffler can influence the results of active noise control. According to the results of experiment and simulation, the effect of noise reduction in ANC system is influenced extremely by reference signal received. The transmission loss and insertion loss in this system are also discussed in details. Besides, the experimental results indicate that the hybrid system has the advantages over a traditional muffler when the muffler is not designed for the frequency of the noise. Furthermore, the mathematic simulation for acoustic field in a cylindrical duct with a muffler is performed in order to verify the experiment results. Finally, Grey theory is applied to estimate the expected signals in order to perform a computer simulation of Grey prediction to explore effects of the ANC system. The results indicate that application of Grey theory gives a good control for the hybrid system.     

An analytical model to estimate the performance of an indoor barrier at low-medium frequencies

Indoor barriers are now widely used for sound insulation. This paper examines the performance of indoor barriers in the low-medium frequency range and analyses the interaction between different natural modes of a room-barrier-room system. Morse proposed a theoretical model to calculate the sound field in a coupled-room, but this model neglects the surface integral of the boundary values of sound pressure. To estimate the performance of a barrier in an indoor environment, an analytical model is proposed that modifies the Green’s function for a non-rigid boundary enclosure and approximates the surface integral by a pre-estimated sound pressure based on Morse’s model. An additional approximation has been made in the proposed model to neglect the coupling area in the calculation of the surface integral. The proposed model used to predict the insertion loss of the barrier is verified by the experimental results using a 1:5 scale model. The predicted results agree well with the measured results at lower frequencies.     

An example of in-plant noise reduction with an acoustical barrier

Existing theories for predicting the distribution of sound intensity in rooms and the performance of acoustical barriers are applied in designing a barrier to reduce noise in an industrial environment. The combination of the theories is found to predict the sound pressure level in the barrier shadow zone reasonably well.     

An active noise barrier with unidirectional secondary sources

An active noise barrier with unidirectional secondary sources is investigated in this paper, where the unidirectional secondary source consists of two closely located loudspeakers with pre-adjusted phase difference. The secondary sound field of the unidirectional sources is adjusted to maximally match the primary sound field in the shadow zone behind the barrier. It is shown both numerically and experimentally that the noise reduction performance of the active noise barrier can be improved remarkably by replacing monopoles with the unidirectional sources. The mechanism for the improvement is also investigated.     

A ray model for hard parallel noise barriers in high-rise cities

A ray model is developed and validated for prediction of the insertion loss of hard parallel noise barriers placed in an urban environment either in front of a row of tall buildings or in a street canyon. The model is based on the theory of geometrical acoustics for sound diffraction at the edge of a barrier and multiple reflections by the ground, barrier and fa?ade surfaces. It is crucial to include the diffraction and multiple reflection effects in the ray model as they play important roles in determining the overall sound pressure levels for receivers located between the fa?ade and the near-side barrier. Comparisons of the ray model with a wave-based boundary element formulation show reasonably good agreement over a broad frequency range. Results of scale model experimental studies are also presented. It is demonstrated that the ray model agrees tolerably well with the scale model experimental data.     

A practical prediction method for the stochastic insulation effect of a sound barrier with arbitrary random noise excitation

A sound barrier is often used as a typical noise control device to modify sound propagation characteristics. Also, statistical parameters such as the median value of sound level, $\text{L}{}_{\mathrm{x}}$, as well as the lower order statistical values of sound energy or level, are important for noise evaluation and regulation problems. In this paper, a new trial of statistical prediction for the stochastic insulation effect of a sound barrier is proposed in a special case where the insulation system parameters have to be improved, especially from a methodological viewpoint. Moreover, the improved probability density function (pdf) of output response corresponding to the above parameter change is expressed in the general form of a statistical series expansion taking the original pdf before the system improvement as the first expansion term. The experimental results of applying it in trial to the actual noise data are in good agreement with theory.