Estimation of directivity and sound power levels emitted by aircrafts during taxiing, for outdoor noise prediction purpose

Integrated noise model (INM) is the most internationally used software to calculate noise levels near airports. Take off, landing or pass by operations can be modeled by INM, but it does not consider aircrafts taxiing, which, in some cases, can be important to accurately evaluate and reduce airports’ noise assessment.Aircraft taxiing noise emission can be predicted using other prediction tools based on standards that describe sound attenuation during propagation outdoors. But these tools require data inputs that are not known: directivity and sound power levels emitted by aircraft during taxiing.This paper describes methods used to calculate directivity indexes and sound power levels, based on field measurements made in Madrid-Barajas Airport (Spain). Obtained results can be used as inputs for general purpose outdoor sound prediction software, which will be able to evaluate noise at airports vicinity as industrial noise.Directivity and sound power levels have been estimated in octave and third octave band terms, for several aircraft families.     

优化扬声器阵列的指向性与声功率级

提出了同时优化扬声器阵列的指向性和声功率级的方法。运用该方法可以优化扬声器阵列的输入电压分布,获得指向性和声功率级二者兼顾的扬声器阵列。本方法不必使用复杂的与频率相关的信号处理装置。模拟结果和实验测量结果表明该方法是可行的和有效的。     

中国筝的声功率级测试

筝是中国古老的弹弦乐器。但迄今为止,对其声功率级一直未进行科学的测定。本文在一混响室内根据ISO及GB标准,对二十一弦筝的声功率级进行了首次测定。两位资深乐师在混响室内分别演奏各自的乐器,通过围绕乐师和乐器布置的四通道测试设备,对筝所辐射的声功率级和动态范围进行测定。测试结果表明,中国筝在以不同力度演奏单音、音阶和乐曲时所辐射的声功率级及其频率特性均有所不同。考虑到乐器演奏音阶时所辐射的声功率级及其动态范围与演奏乐曲时的声功率级接近,并且,音乐的空间感也大都在乐器以f力度演奏乐曲的强音标志乐段时最为显著,故此我们建议中国筝所辐射的声功率级用其以f力度演奏音阶时的平均声功率级表示。本文测试的两架中国筝以f力度演奏音阶时的平均声功率级为85.9dB。文中不仅首次公布了中国筝声功率级的测试结果,并且所介绍的测试方法对其它乐器声功率级测试也具有借鉴意义。民族乐器所辐射的声音性能的确定是民族音乐厅堂音质研究的基础。     

Development of a highway traffic noise prediction model that considers various road surface types

A highway traffic noise prediction model has been developed for environmental assessment in South Korea. The model is based on an outdoor sound propagation method and is fully compliant with ISO 9613 and the sound power level (PWL) estimation for a road segment, as suggested in the ASJ Model-1998 that is based on PWLs. Due to that model’s selection of two pavement types, such as asphalt or concrete pavement, an unacceptable traffic noise prediction is made in cases where the road surface is different from that on which the model is based. In order to address this problem, several road surface types are categorized, and the PWL of each surface type is determined and modeled by measuring the noise levels obtained from newly developed methods. An evaluation of the traffic noise prediction model using field measurements finds good agreement between predicted and measured noise levels.     

A new methodology to assess sound power level of tyre/road noise under laboratory controlled conditions in drum test facilities

Tyre/road interaction is the main source of noise emission caused by road traffic when cruising at speeds over 30 km/h. Several methods such as the Coast-By, the Close-Proximity, the Statistical Pass-By or the Controlled Pass-By have been used over recent decades to measure noise emission. However, since Regulation (EC) No. 1222/2009 on the labelling of tyres was published, only the method described in UNECE Regulation 117 concerning the approval of tyres with regard to rolling sound emissions, can be used in order to obtain tyre/road noise emission approved values. All these conventional methods have several disadvantages such as the lack of repeatibility, the influence of environmental factors or the different results that can be obtained depending on the test track or the vehicle upon which the tests are carried out. A new methodology based on drum tests and the ISO 3744:1994 has been developed in order to avoid these limitations. This paper describes the new method including the positioning of microphones, calculating correction factors, characterising the background noise caused by the drum and obtaining the sound power level of a tyre when rolling against a drum.     

Influence of vehicle noise emission directivity on sound level distribution in a canyon street. Part I: Simulation program test

Simulation programs may be useful tools for controlling an environmental noise. The computer simulation program PROP11 that enables predictions of the time-average sound level within an urban system is used here. A roadway as a noise source is represented by a sum of the sound exposures due to individual vehicle pass-bys. Different representations of equivalent point sources for various classes of vehicles are allowed including directivity characteristics other than omnidirectional. Propagation throughout an urban system contains multi-reflections from the walls and single and double diffraction at their edges. In this paper, the PROP11 program is used to predict the sound level between opposing façades of buildings in a canyon street. A multi-lane road is assumed to contain two classes of vehicles (light and heavy) ones. The equivalent source representing vehicles is defined by the source power spectrum, its position above the ground and directivity characteristics. The consequences of introducing equivalent source directivity are analyzed.     

Influence of vehicle noise emission directivity on sound level distribution in a canyon street. Part II: Experimental verification

In the paper, predictions of relative sound level distribution on building façades in city-centres obtained by using the simulation PROP11 program are compared with measurements. The simulation involves the geometry of surrounding buildings, road geometry (number of lanes and their positions) and traffic structure (vehicle flow rates and their average speeds). The agreement between measurement and simulation results is tested for different directivity characteristics of an equivalent point source representing the vehicles.     

Study to analyze the effects of vehicles and pavement surface types on noise

The effects of vehicles and pavement surface types on noise have been investigated at the Korea Highway Corporation’s Test Road along the southbound side of the Jungbu Inland Expressway, South Korea. The study was conducted in 2005 and 2006 through field measurements at nine surface sections of asphalt concrete and Portland cement concrete pavements using eleven vehicles. For the road noise analysis, the sound power levels (PWLs) of combined noise (e.g., tire/pavement interaction noise and power-train noise together) and tire/pavement interaction noise using various vehicles were calculated based on the novel close proximity (NCPX) and pass-by methods. Then, the characteristics of the PWLs were evaluated according to surface type, vehicle type, and vehicle speed. The results show that the PWLs of vehicles are diversely affected by vehicle speed and the condition of the road surface.     

Pilot study of methods and equipment for in-home noise level measurements

Knowledge of the auditory and non-auditory effects of noise has increased dramatically over the past decade, but indoor noise exposure measurement methods have not advanced appreciably, despite the introduction of applicable new technologies. This study evaluated various conventional and smart devices for exposure assessment in the National Children’s Study. Three devices were tested: a sound level meter (SLM), a dosimeter, and a smart device with a noise measurement application installed. Instrument performance was evaluated in a series of semi-controlled tests in office environments over 96-h periods, followed by measurements made continuously in two rooms (a child’s bedroom and a most used room) in nine participating homes over a 7-day period with subsequent computation of a range of noise metrics. The SLMs and dosimeters yielded similar A-weighted average noise levels. Levels measured by the smart devices often differed substantially (showing both positive and negative bias, depending on the metric) from those measured via SLM and dosimeter, and demonstrated attenuation in some frequency bands in spectral analysis compared to SLM results. Virtually all measurements exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s 45 dBA day–night limit for indoor residential exposures. The measurement protocol developed here can be employed in homes, demonstrates the possibility of measuring long-term noise exposures in homes with technologies beyond traditional SLMs, and highlights potential pitfalls associated with measurements made by smart devices.     

Measurement techniques of noise level in various urban scenarios. Day selection and representative period

This work summarizes several years of measurements of the main noise sources present in large populations, specially the noise produced by the traffic in the city of Valencia. The study includes one-week monitoring in the period between the years 2012 and 2014 in three different types of scenarios (heavy, medium and low traffic). The aim of this work is firstly to determine the most representative measurement day under several approaches related to the type of day (working day, non-working day or full week), and to the different periods throughout the day (night, day and evening).     

Reduction of low‐frequency noise in multilayer MoS2 FETs using a Fermi‐level depinning layer

Two‐dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are potential candidate materials for future thin‐film field effect transistors (FETs). However, many aspects of this device must be optimized for practical applications. In addition, low‐frequency noise that limits the design window of electronic devices, in general, must be minimized for TMD‐based FETs. In this study, the low‐frequency noise characteristics of multilayer molybdenum disulphide (MoS₂) FETs were investigated in detail, with two different contact structures: titanium (Ti) metal–MoS₂ channel and Ti metal–TiO₂ interlayer–MoS₂ channel. The results showed that the noise level of the device with a TiO₂ interlayer reduced by one order of magnitude compared with the device without the TiO₂ interlayer. This substantial improvement in the noise characteristics could be explained using the carrier number of fluctuation model. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Estimation and interpolation of underwater low frequency ambient noise spectrum using artificial neural networks

In this work, estimation of ambient noise spectrum influenced by wind speed and wave height carried out for the frequency range of 500 Hz to 5 kHz using Feed forward Neural Network (FNN) is presented. Ocean ambient noise measurements were made in the shallow waters of Bay of Bengal using a portable data acquisition system with a high sensitivity hydrophone at a depth of 5 m from the surface.100 sets of data covering a rage of wind speeds from 2.5 m/s to 8.5 m/s with approximately 15 sets of data falling within 1 m/s over the range of wind speed were used for training the FNN. The parameter wave height which contributes to the noise producing mechanism is also used for training along with wind speed. The results revealed that the proposed method is useful in the estimation and interpolation of underwater noise spectrum level and hence in simulation for the considered frequency range. These were confirmed by calculating the Mean Squared Error (MSE) between the experimental data and the simulation. As the measurements of the underwater ambient noise level are very difficult in remote oceanic regions, where conditions are often inhospitable, these studies seem to be relevant.