Evaluation of Individual and Environmental Sound Pressure Level and Drawing Noise-Isosonic Maps Using Surfer V.14 and Noise at Work V.5.0

Noise pollution is one of the common physical harmful factors in many work environments.The current study aimed to assess personal and environmental sound pressure level and project the sound-Isosonic map in one of the Razavi Khorasan Paste manufacture using Surfer V.14 and Noise at work V.5.0.This cross-sectional,descrip-tive study is analytical that was conducted in 2018 in the Paste factory that contains Canister,production and Brewing unit.Following ISO 9612:2009,Casella Cel-320 was used to measure personal sound pressure level,while CEL-450 sound level meter(manufactured by Casella-Cel,the UK)was employed to assess environmental sound pressure level.Statistical analyzes was done using SPSS V.18 and Linear Regression test.The sound-isosonic maps were projected using Surfer V.14 and Noise at work V.5.0.The results of assessing personal sound pressure level indicated that the highest received dose(172.21%)and personal equivalent sound level(87.36 dBA)were recorded for workers in the Canister unit.According to results of measuring of the environmental sound pressure level,out of 16 measurement stations in this unit,overall 87.5%were regarded as danger and caution areas.The lowest and highest sound pressure levels in this units were 61 dBA and 92 dBA that belong to Brewing and Canister units respectively.Results indicate Over 75%of the Canister and production units had a sound pressure level greater than 85 dBA and these two units were regarded as the most dangerous area in terms of noise pollution.It is there-fore necessary to implement noise control measures,apply hearing protection program and auditory tests among workers in these units.

Presenting a Signal to Noise Ratio Model Based on the Combined Effect ofSound Pressure Level/frequency, Exposure Time and Oral Potassium:Experimental Study in Rats

Exposure to noise can lead to anatomical,nonauditory,and auditory impacts.The auditory influence of noise exposure is manifested in the form of Noise-induced hearing loss(NIHL).The current study aimed at present a signal to noise ratio model of otoacoustic emission of rats’ears in the light of the combined effect of sound pressure level,sound frequency,exposure time,and potassium concentration of the used water.In total,36 adult male rates,whose age varied from 3 to 4 months and had a weight of 200±50 g,were randomly divided into 12 groups,with each group consisting of 3 rats.The rats in both groups(case and control groups)were exposed to SPLs of 85,95,and 105 dB,emitted from sources that generated white noise.A distortion product otoacoustic emission(DPOAE)machine(4000 I/O manufactured by Homoth of Germany)was utilized to gauge the signal to noise ratio(SNR)of otoacoustic emissions of rats’ears at various frequencies in an acoustic room.The inclusion criterion was SNR≥6 dB.The collected data were fed into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences(SPSS)version 18,followed by conducting descriptive and inferential data analysis procedures.The results of SNR analysis indicated that over 82%of all data had SNRs that were equal to or greater than 6 dB.These data were considered as acceptable response.Furthermore,SPL and sound frequency had significant associations with SNR(P<0.0001).Exposure time also significantly correlated with SNR(P=0.008).However,the potassium concentration of the used water had no significant correlation with SNR(P=0.97).High sound pressure levels result in lower DPOAE.Furthermore,higher frequency leads to higher SNR.On the contrary,longer exposure time reduces SNR.Finally,the potassium concentration of the used water has no effect on SNR.

Evaluation of Environmental Sound Pressure Level,Drawing of Noise-Isosonic Map Using Surfer V.19,and Prioritization of Engineering Noise Control Methods Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP):A Field Study in CGS Stations

Noise pollution is one of the most significant harmful physical factors in the industrial and occupational environments.Due to the high costs of exposure to excessive noise;continuous sound evaluation,propose and implement noise control plans in occupational environments is necessary.Thus,the present study aimed to review environmental sound measurements,drawing of noise maps,and prioritizing the engineering noise control methods using the Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP).This study was a descriptive-analytical study that aimed to assess occupational noises and present a control plan in the City Gas Stations(CGSs)of Kerman,Iran in 2021.The present study was done in two phases.In the first phase,six CGSs were investigated to measure and evaluate the noise.In addition,the noise map of a CGS was drawn using the Surfer software.Finally,the AHP was used in the second phase of the research to prioritize the control measures.In this phase,four criteria and ten alternatives were identified.According to first phase results,the sound pressure level(SPL)of the stations varied from 76 to 98 dBA.Besides,the majority of the studied stations had a sound level higher than 85 dBA(danger zone).The second phase of the study showed that out of the four evaluated criteria,the executability criterion had the highest impact and the cost criterion had the lowest impact on the selection of control measures with a weight of 0.587 and 0.052,respectively.Based on the results of prioritization of the alternatives,using a silenced regulator(weight of 0.223)and increasing the thickness of the tube(weight of 0.023)had the highest and lowest priorities among the alternatives,respectively.The use of engineering noise control methods such as using silenced regulators was the best way to control the noises of CGSs.Additionally;it is noteworthy that AHP is a practical method for prioritizing alternatives to achieve the most accurate decision-making.The results of AHP can be of great help to health and safety experts and managers in choosing the sound engineering control measures more precisely.

CAVITATION INCEPTION WITNESSED BY SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL IN MODEL TEST AND PROTOTYPE OBSERVATION

The paper concerns with the relationship between cavitation inception andSound Pressure Level (SPL). A case study for the Xiaolangdi Hydro-project was taken as a typicalexample, which demonstrated the standard criterion of SPL indicating cavitation inception.Cavitation inception of an orifice plate used for energy dissipation in a tunnel spillway waswitnessed and verified both in model test and prototype observation. A design criterion was proposedfor a cavitation-free hydraulic structure which can be served as a reference for designers as wellas researchers. Consequently, scale effects were discussed with an aim at suggesting an appropriatefactor of safety in design.

Active control of structural sound radiation in an acoustic enclosure consisting of flexible structure

The active control of structural sound radiation in an acoustic enclosure is studied by using distributed point force actuators as the secondary control force, and the control mechanisms for the radiated noise in the cavity are analyzed. A rectangular enclosure involving two simply supported flexible plates is created for this investigation. The characteristics of the primary and secondary sound field and the structural-acoustic coupled system are analyzed, and the optimal control objective for reducing the sound pressure level （SPL） in the cavity is derived. The response of the SPL in the cavity is analyzed and compared when the secondary point force actuators with different locations and parameters are applied to the two flexible plates. The results indicate that the noise in the cavity can be better controlled when some point force actuators are applied to two flexible plates for cooperative control rather than the point force actuators being only applied to the excited flexible plate.

Sound transducer calibration of ambulatory audiometric system utilizing delta learning rule

An efficient calibration algorithm for an ambulatory audiometric test system is proposed. This system utilizes a personal digital assistant (PDA) device to generate the correct sound pressure level (SPL) from an audiometric transducer such as an earphone. The calibrated sound intensities for an audio-logical examination can be obtained in terms of the sound pressure levels of pure-tonal sinusoidal signals in eight-banded frequency ranges (250, 500, 1 000, 2 000, 3 000, 4 000, 6 000 and 8 000 Hz), and with mapping of the input sound pressure levels by the weight coefficients that are tuned by the delta learning rule. With this scheme, the sound intensities, which evoke eight-banded sound pressure levels by 5 dB steps from a minimum of 25 dB to a maximum of 80 dB, can be generated without volume displacement. Consequently, these sound intensities can be utilized to accurately determine the hearing threshold of a subject in the ambulatory audiometric testing environment.

On the Impact of Bell Sound on Ambient Particulates

Here the authors examine whether bell sounds can have an impact on ambient aerosol levels and size distribution under atmospheric conditions.The authors present calculation results for acoustic coagulation by church bell sounds for a range of ambient aerosol types.The results show that for orthokinetic sonic agglomeration,while the frequency spectrum of church bells is ideal for causing coagulation of ambient aerosols,the sound pressure level(SPL)becomes too low for an effect.However,for very polluted conditions,at extremely short distances from the bell dust aerosols can readily undergo sonic coagulation.

Hydrodynamic and Hydroacoustic Computational Prediction of Conventional and Highly Skewed Marine Propellers Operating in Non-uniform Ship Wake

Despite their high manufacturing cost and structural deficiencies especially in tip regions,highly skewed propellers are preferred in the marine industry,where underwater noise is a significant design criterion.However,hydrodynamic performances should also be considered before a decision to use these propellers is made.This study investigates the trade-off between hydrodynamic and hydroacoustic performances by comparing conventional and highly skewed Seiun Maru marine propellers for a noncavitating case.Many papers in the literature focus solely on hydroacoustic calculations for the open-water case.However,propulsive characteristics are significantly different when propeller-hull interactions take place.Changes in propulsion performance also reflect on the hydroacoustic performances of the propeller.In this study,propeller-hull interactions were considered to calculate the noise spectra.Rather than solving the full case,which is computationally demanding,an indirect approach was adopted;axial velocities from the nominal ship wake were introduced as the inlet condition of the numerical approach.A hybrid method based on the acoustic analogy was used in coupling computational fluid dynamics techniques with acoustic propagation methods,implementing the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings(FW-H)equation.The hydrodynamic performances of both propellers were presented as a preliminary study.Propeller-hull interactions were included in calculations after observing good accordance between our results,experiments,and quasi-continuous method for the open-water case.With the use of the time-dependent flow field data of the propeller behind a nonuniform ship wake as an input,simulation results were used to solve the FW-H equation to extract acoustic pressure and sound pressure levels for several hydrophones located in the near field.Noise spectra results confirm that the highest values of the sound pressure levels are in the low-frequency range and the first harmonics calculated by the present method are in good accordance with the theoretical values.Results also show that a highly skewed propeller generates less noise even in noncavitating cases despite a small reduction in hydrodynamic efficiency.

Airborne Acoustic Transmission and Terrain Topography at SAINTGITS Amphitheatre:An Analysis of Outdoor Auditory Perception and Comparison of Contour Plots

The arrangement of natural and physical features on the earth’s surface are a few among the countless items that govern the airborne acoustic transmission at boundary layers.In particular,if the acoustic waves are attributes of live concerts at open-air theatres,without losing the sheen and quality,the audience should certainly receive the unbroken depth of the performance.Hence,at all times,it is advisable to analyse the auditory receptiveness,particularly in all intended recreational spaces.The current pandemic circumstances and the mandated COVID-19 prevention protocols encourage gatherings in naturally ventilated outdoor regions than confined indoors.This work predicts and quantifies the acoustic experience at the naturally carved amphitheatre at SAINTGITS,an autonomous institution at the down South-West of the Indian Subcontinent.The entire recreational space at SAINTGITS AMPHI was separately modelled as a Base case and Advanced case,and were analysed using the acoustic modelling module of EASE Focus,a renowned simulation freeware,which is in strict adherence with the International standards.The variation in loudness received at the nearest and farthest ends of the amphitheatre was between 67 to 80 dB.Though the Zero frequency SPL(Z-weighting)exhibited the loudness in the range of 81 to 85 dB and could maintain a safer auditory level for any human ear,it was confined to a hemispherical region near the sound source.A vertical beam angle of−4.0°was found to be effective throughout.The procedures and analyses will certainly help the future organizers and stakeholders to effectively plan the resources to reap rich acoustic experience at terrain-centric locales.The surface topography and contours were plotted with another set of freeware,the CADMAPPER and the QUIKGRID,to compare terrain gradient with the known data.Furthermore,this interdisciplinary research exhibits the extensive simulation capability of both EASE Focus and QUIKGRID and demonstrates the modelling versatility and deliverable potential of these freeware to benefit the budding architects and researchers.

Assessment of Indoor and Outdoor Noise Pollution at a University Hospital Based on Acoustic Measurements and Noise Mapping

This paper describes an analysis of the sound pressure levels at the exterior fa&ccedil;ade and inside the Hospital de Clínicas of the Federal University of Paraná. Measurements were taken at a total of 45 points, 24 at the exterior facade and 21 points inside the hospital on all the floors of the main building and in the maternity building. These 45 measurements were used to calculate the acoustic map of the hospital, which is located on General Carneiro Street, in the city of Curitiba, state of Paraná, Brazil. A comparison of the measured outdoor sound pressure levels against those established by Curitiba Municipal Law No. 10625 revealed that they all exceeded the daytime limit of 55 dB(A) permitted for areas around hospitals. The indoor sound pressure measurements and the noise levels for acoustic comfort established by the Brazilian technical standard ABNT NBR 10152 were compared, indicating that all the measured points, including those in the neonatal intensive care unit, exceeded the established limit of 35 dB(A) to 45 dB(A).

Numerical Analysis and Comparison of the Fan Ducted Discharge Equipment Acoustics

In order to cut down excessive experiments, acoustic response of the different fan ducted discharge (equipment) was studied based on numerical method. The sound pressure level(SPL) in each component of a duct-plenum-reverberant room model was drawn and SPL deviation was analyzed. The trends of the curves were explained by the diffracti on and end reflection at the duct discharge. Models with different room dimensions, duct lengths, duct cross sections, duct locations and duct elbow were constructed, and their response was analyzed and compared. The results show that the SPL curves are smooth in the duct discharge cross section, but seriously fluctuant in the reverberant room; SPL in the duct discharge is only sensitive to duct dimensions, while that of the reverberant room is regularly influenced by all the dimension and arrangement factors. Small room and short duct help to increase room SPL. Elbow has an indistinct influence on all the components’ sound field. Finally, suggestion to reduce the deviation of experiment results was proposed.

Analysis of Road Traffic Noise Pollution around a University in Binzhou

The number of automobiles in the urban area of Binzhou City continues to increase,and traffic noise pollution is increasingly serious. In this study,noise pollution on Huanghe 5 Road near the south gate of Binzhou University was monitored. The results showed that the road noise pollution on Huanghe 5 Road was relatively serious on the whole,especially in the peak periods of traffic flow in the morning and afternoon,because the increase in the number of pedestrians brought inconvenience to traffic,thereby resulting in an increase in car whistle.

Temporal variation of the underwater soundscape in Jiaotou Bay,an Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin(Sousa chinensis)habitat off Hainan Island,China

The underwater soundscape is an important ecological element affecting numerous aquatic animals,in particular dolphins,which must identify salient cues from ambient ocean noise.In this study,temporal variations in the soundscape of Jiaotou Bay were monitored from February 2016 to January 2017,where a population of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins(Sousa chinensis)has recently been a regular sighting.An autonomous acoustic recorder was deployed in shallow waters,and 1/3-octave band sound pressure levels(SPLs)were calculated with central frequencies ranging from 25 Hz to 40 kHz,then were grouped into 3 subdivided bands via cluster analysis.SPLs at each major band showed significant differences on a diel,fishing-related period,seasonal,and tidal phase scale.Anthropogenic noise generated by passing ships and underwater explosions were recorded in the study area.The fish and dolphin acoustic activities both exhibited diel and seasonal variations,but no tidal cycle patterns.A negative significant relationship between anthropogenic sound detection rates and dolphin detection rates were observed,and fish detection rates showed no effect on dolphin detection rates,indicating anthropogenic activity avoidance and no forced foraging in dolphins in the study area.The results provide fundamental insight into the acoustic dynamics of an important Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin habitat within a coastal area affected by a rapid increase in human activity,and demonstrate the need to protect animal habitat from anthropogenic noises.

Aeroacoustic and aerodynamic optimization of propeller blades

It is of great significance to develop a high-efficiency and low-noise propeller optimization method for new-generation propeller aircraft design.Coupled with free form deformation method,dynamic mesh interpolation technology,optimization algorithm,surrogate model,aerodynamic calculation and aeroacoustic prediction model module,the integrated aerodynamic and aeroacoustic design method of propeller is built.The optimization design for the six-blade propeller is carried out.The non-reduction in efficiency,thrust coefficient and the minimum of aerodynamic noise is treated as the optimization design objective.The spatial vorticity distribution of the propeller before and after the design is also analyzed by using unsteady computational fluid dynamics method.The results show that the optimized propeller can effectively reduce the aerodynamic noise level.The maximum total sound pressure level can be reduced by 5 dB without reducing its aerodynamic performance.The developed method has good application potential in low-noise optimization design of propeller and other rotating machinery.

Study on aerosol agglomeration using the airborne ultrasonic transducer

Acoustic agglomeration technology use high-intensity acoustic field to make aerosol particles collide and condense rapidly. Existing studies have shown that 70%–90% of fine particles can be eliminated within minutes using compression drives and air-jet generators. Currently, there are limitations to the sound sources used. In this paper, an airborne ultrasonic transducer with a resonant frequency of 15 kHz is designed, followed by the corresponding numerical simulation and experiments for the evaluation of the vibration modal and sound pressure field. The sound pressure levels (SPL) of the open space and the agglomeration chamber can reach 150 dB and 156 dB, respectively. The agglomeration effect of water droplets, liquid phase smoke, solid phase smoke and mixed smoke is experimentally investigated, and the light transmittance rapidly increases from 8% to 60% within 4 s, 8 s, 5 s and 6 s, respectively. Agglomeration is also effective in the high-frequency range, and we infer that the acoustic wake effect is the predominant mechanism. The elimination effect is promoted with the increasing of SPL until the corresponding secondary acoustic effect is enhanced. Moreover, the agglomeration rate of higher concentration aerosol is significantly better than that of diluted aerosols in ultrasonic agglomeration process.

Experimental study on a designed jet cavitation device for producing two-dimensional nanosheets

In this study,a jet cavitation device aimed at producing two-dimensional nanosheets was designed.The effects of cavitation generator type and jet pressure on the cavitation inception and intensity were examined by monitoring the changes of sound pressure level(SPL).As such,the optimized cavitation generator with the best cavitation capability under the same ambient condition was determined.Further,BN and MoS 2,two kinds of layered materials,were exfoliated into individual flakes in aqueous solutions by this jet cavitation device.By investigating the morphology of these exfoliated flakes via scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscope,it was found that these pristine materials were mostly exfoliated into two-dimensional nanosheets,among which even monolayers were generally presented.This exfoliation process happened mainly due to the cavitation-induced intensive tensile stress acting on the layered materials.As graphene has been produced by this device successfully,it is anticipated that this jet cavitation device is suitable for producing other various two-dimensional nanosheets.

Experimental investigation of typical surface treatment effect on velocity fluctuations in turbulent flow around an airfoil

Noise reduction of different airfoils is important because these sections are used in wind turbines,propellers,and aircraft wings.Several methods are used for passive noise reduction of sections.One of these methods is the use of surface treatment.In this research,the effect of the typical surface treatment element(finlets)on the vortex structure at different frequencies in the turbulent flow created on the NACA2412 section is investigated.For this purpose,one-dimensional hot wire probe is used.The used surface treatment in this research has a special geometry and the distance between two consecutive finlets is 6 mm(S=6 mm).This study shows that this surface treatment element can be used for noise reduction in high frequencies.Another result of this research is the suggestion of the most suitable position to install this special surface treatment element to reduce vortex energy in all frequency ranges.This installation location is determined based on a dimensionless parameter(X_(aft)/h).

The Study on Effect of Exhaust Performance According to Active Muffler Valve Spring as Followed Spring Constant

This study represents the influence on exhaust performance by active muffler valve spring.The main experimental parameters were engine speeds and torsion coil spring constants in the active muffler.When the muffler valve spring has a low spring constant of k=0.75,the sound pressure level was low at the region of engine speed 2000 to 2500 r/min,and the velocity of exhaust gas was high at spring constant k=0.75.When the engine speed was under 1500 r/min,the mean concentration of CO was high in case without muffler valve.When the engine speed in the range of 1600 to 2600 r/min with spring constant k=0.75,the mean HC concentration showed the lowest value.Without muffler valve,the temperature in the muffler was higher than the case with muffler valve.This research represented that the performance of the active muffler valve spring constant k=0.75 was higher than that without muffler valve and valve spring constant k=0.70.Among the three cases of experimental condition,with a spring constant k=0.75,0.70 and without muffler valve,the exhaust performance was high in case active muffler valve spring constant k=0.70.