Topic: NOISE POLLUTION

By Dr. Nurmin Bolong

Topic content

Introduction sound and its

measurement
Effects of noise on human health
Rating systems
Community noise sources and criteria
Traffic noise prediction
Noise control

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 Introduction sound and its
measurement
Sound?
Derived from pressure waves in the air by the vibrations of
solid objects
Example: plucking a guitar string
Sound waves are compressional, longitudinal waves made
by variations in pressure moving in the same direction.
Has frequency (f in unit Hertz) and wavelength ()
Velocity of sound in air is 331m/s
Different materials can transmit or absorb sound of
different frequencies
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Introduction sound and its

measurement
Noise?
Unwanted sound
Any form of unwelcome sound
Incoherent sound that perceived to be
annoying
The definition is highly subjective to some
people the sound of engine is satisfying but
some may think it as thrilling
Define also as any sound that can produce
an undesired physiological or psychological
effect in an individual
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 Human interpretation of sound

When sound wave

reach the ear, the
structures within
vibrate
BUT sudden forceful
vibration (noise) can
rupture the eardrum

Properties of sound waves

Period (P) the rise and fall of pressure which follow a

cyclic or wave pattern (wave pattern is called sinusoidal)

1
P
f

Repetition of a
waveform ~cycle
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 Properties of sound waves

Frequency (f) the

number of times a peak
arrives in 1-second of
oscillations
Unit: Hertz
Frequency for human
hear: 20-20K Hz
The closer the peaks,
1 the higher the pitch
f
T
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Amplitude measure of the

magnitude pressure variation
when air molecules vibrate
Related to the intensity of sound

Loudness observers auditory

impression of the strength of a
sound
Depends on amplitude of a
Higher amplitude, louder
sound sound wave

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 Properties of sound waves

Wavelength () the
distance through which a
sound wave travel

Speed of
c sound

f

Sound power and intensity

Sound power (W) rate at which work done

ie traveling waves of sound transmit energy in the
direction of propagation of the wave
Tells how much energy is produced by a sound
source.
Unit: Watt

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 Sound power and intensity

Sound intensity (I) the

time-weighted average
sound power per unit area
normal to the direction of
propagation of the sound
wave
W W
I
A 4r 2
Unit: watt/m2.

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Sound intensity decreases with distance to source

W W
I r is the radius or distance from source
A 4r 2
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 Sound power and intensity

Sound Pressure fluctuating part of the air pressure

The force (N) of sound on a surface area, A (m2)
Can be (+) or (-) : depending on whether the total pressure
is above or below the average atmosphere pressure
Sound pressure (rms) (p) = total atms pressure barometric
pressure
Unit: N/m2 or Pa

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The relation of sound intensity (I) and sound pressure (p):

p2
I
c
Speed of sound
Density of air (m/s)
(kg/m3)

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 Levels and decibels

levels (L) measurement on

the scale-based on the logarithm
of the ratios of the measured
quantities used.

Measured
quantity
Q
L' log
Q0 Reference
quantity 15

Levels and decibels (contd)

levels (L) - Unit in Bel but the unit is

large, so, it is divided into 10 sub-unit
called as decibels (dB)

Levels in dB Q
L 10 log
Q0

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Some important terminology and expression
Sound power level (Lw) is expressed as:
Sound power (W)
W
LW 10 log 12
10
sound intensity (I)
Sound intensity level I
LI 10 log
10 12

Sound pressure level

prms P
LP 20 log 20 log rms
( prms ) 0 20 Pa
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Sound pressure Sound pressure level

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 19

Combining sound pressure

level
Not simply add or subtract due to
logarithmic heritage
60 dB+60 dB?
Combining sound pressure level solutions
can be either:
Graph (for solving dB addition)
Convert to sound power level and back to dB

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 Averaging sound pressure level

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Averaging sound pressure level (by graph)

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 Averaging sound pressure levels
use the following equation:
N
1 ( L j 20 )
LP 20 log
N
10
j 1

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Combining sound pressure levels

Example:
What sound power level results from combining the
three levels: 68 dB, 79 dB and 75 dB?

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 Characterization of noise

Weighting networks
An electronic filtering circuits built into the
meter to attenuate/satisfy certain frequencies.
Three weighting characteristics: A, B and C

Octave bands
Breaking noise characteristic into 8-11 octave
bands

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Weighting networks
to discriminate against different frequencies
The very low frequencies are discriminated against
quite severely by the A network, in a manner
similar to the response of the ear but only
moderately by the B network and hardly at all by
the C network.
dB(A)
roughly corresponds to the inverse of the 40 dB (at 1 kHz) equal-
loudness curve for the human ear.
the sound level meter is less sensitive to very high and very low
frequencies
dB(B) - decibel B filter is between C and A
dB(C) filter practically linear over several octaves and is suitable for
subjective measurements at very high sound pressure level (ie. ultrasonic)

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 A often employed for
community noise

Response characteristics of the three basic weighting networks

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Octave bands
A sound level meter fitted with Octave Band
Filters has the ability to split the audible
spectrum into smaller bands, identifying the
frequency content of the noise.
Octave band measurement is used when the
frequency composition of a sound field is
needed to be determined
By splitting into about 10-bands. Commonly
used: 31Hz, 63Hz, 125Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz, 1kHz,
2kHz, 4kHz, 8kHz and 16kHz

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Showing at 250 Hz higher
levels than the others
If you were trying to reduce the noise - then based
on this measurement you can see where all the
effort needs to go, especially when you consider
that these bands coincide with the frequencies
where the human ear is most sensitive.

Example of an octave band analysis graph

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Types of sound

When measuring noise, we need to know type

of noise so we can choose:
The measurement parameters
The equipment to use
Duration of the measurement

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Types of sound

3 types of sound are:

Steady-state/continuous
Intermittent
Impulse/impact

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Steady-state/continuous

Machinery that operates without interruptions in the

same mode
Uninterrupted <5 dB during the entire measurement
Example: blowers, pumps, fans
Requires just few minutes measurement to determine the
noise level

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 Intermittent

Machinery that operates

in cycle
Noise level increase and
decrease rapidly
The noise event need to
be measured may need
longer period of
measurement

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Impulse/impact

Noise from impacts or

explosion
Example: pile driver,
gunshot

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 Effects of noise on human
health
Effects of noise on human can be classified into :
1. Auditory effects
Hearing loss/ impairment
Speech interference
2. Psychological/sociological effects
Annoyance
Sleep interference
Performance
Acoustical privacy
Stress andKejurteraan
hypertension
Alam Sekitar by NB 35

Auditory effects

Hearing loss

Results of a neural damage involving

injury to the hair cells (at the cochlea)
May be either temporary or permanent

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 Classification of hearing impairment

Grade Hearing impairment (dB A)

Not significant 0-25
Mild 25-35
Moderate 35-45
Severe >45

Ref: Noise Pollution By Debi Prasad Tripathy, 1999, APH Publishing

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Auditory effects

Speech interference

Noise that interfere the ability to communicate

The Speech Interference Level (SIL) to
measure degree of which background noise
interferes a speech.
obtained by averaging the sound pressure level
in the octave frequency bands or by taking the
A-weighted sound level meter

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Speech Interference Levels - SIL - are the arithmetic average of
sound pressure levels at the 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz center
frequencies and is a measure of the degree to which
background noise interferes with speech.

The diagram indicates the SIL

and distance at which a person
would have talk in a normal,
raised, very loud or shouting
voice to be understood.

Source: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com

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Psychological/sociological effects

Annoyance

Annoyance by noise is a
response to auditory experience.
Annoying and disliking and can
be threatening
The degree of annoyance leads
to complaints, product rejection
etc.

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 Psychological/sociological effects

Sleep interference

A special category of
annoyance
Disturbance of sleep would
depend only on the frequency
of unusual sound.
Example: A rural person may
have difficulty sleeping in a
noisy urban area

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Psychological/sociological effects

Effects on performance

Different kind of noises might

influence different kinds of people
doing different kind of task
Noise reduce the accuracy of work
Example:
noise can reduce teaching time
teachers and students difficult to hear
to each other
Lack of concentration during study

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 Psychological/sociological effects

Acoustic privacy

A state in which external sound

are reduced or eliminated
Example: Failure to consider
acoustic privacy in open office
led to frequent complaint
(distractions)

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Stress and hypertension

Over 1.8 million people claim noisy neighbours have made

their life a misery and they cannot enjoy their own homes.
The impact of noise on health is potentially a significant
problem across the UK given over 17.5 million Britons
(38%) have been disturbed by the inhabitants of
neighbouring properties in the last two years. (daily express,
UK)
Hypertension interrelated toward cardiovascular effect.
Study shows: >50dB at night increase cardiovascular
problem (Maschke 2003)
How Noisy Neighbours Blight Millions of Lives, The Daily Express, http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/94084/How-noisy-
neighbours-millions-of-lives
Maschke C (2003). "Stress Hormone Changes in Persons exposed to Simulated Night Noise". Noise Health 5 (17): 3545.
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 Rating systems

Why noise-rating system is

needed?
Allow sound level meters/
analyzers measurement/data
to be summarized
Capable of describing the
cumulative noise exposure
To yield large set of
parameters

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Described in:
Rating system LN concept
Leq concept

The LN concept The Leq concept

A statistical measure Is the equivalent
that indicates how continuous energy level
frequent a particular Constant noise level of a
sound level is given time use-up the
exceeded. same energy as the
fluctuating level at the
same time period

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 The LN concept

40% exceed 71.5 dB(A)

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The Leq concept

quantifies the noise

environment as a single
value of sound level for any
desired duration.
For this sample noise, the
Leq is 80dB(A)

Also expressed mathematically as:

1 t2 p (t ) 2 p(t) is the time varying sound pressure

Leq 10 log 2 dt P0 is the ref. pressure taken as 20 Pa
t 2 t1 t1 p0 t2 and t1 duration time

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 Community noise sources
and criteria
Noise
sources

Transportation Other Construction

noise combustion noise
engines
Aircraft noise Drilling,
Some example: combustion etc.
Highway Chain saws,
vehicle noise generators,
Train noise chillers etc
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Noise standards (Federal Highway

Kejurteraan Alam Federation FHA)
Sekitar by NB 50

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 Combustion Engines Noise
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Construction noise

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 Traffic noise prediction
Several international & national approach

By The National Cooperative Highway

Research Program (NCHRP)
provide design guidance for the prediction and
control of highway noise
The Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA) has developed computer model
Traffic noise models (TNM)
Dept. of Environment (DOE), Malaysia
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http://www.doe.gov.my/dmdocuments/guidelineBunyiBising.pdf

Guidelines for Environmental Noise Limits

and Control, Noise Labeling and Emission
Limits of Outdoor Sources and Vibration
Limits and Control, 2004

Kejuruteraan Alam Sekitar by NB 54

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Kejurteraan Alam Sekitar by NB 55

Kejurteraan Alam Sekitar by NB 56

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 Kejurteraan Alam Sekitar by NB 57

Methodology
(NHRCP)

Kejurteraan Alam Sekitar by NB 58

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 Procedure to calculate noise
level (short methods)
1. Observer identification on a route map
2. Roadway approximation roadway alignment.
3. Traffic parameters
4. Roadway-shielding parameters
5. Prediction
1. Unshielded level at observer location
2. Shielding adjustment
3. L10

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Figure: sample of noise prediction worksheet

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 Noise control

Strategies to Control Noise

Pollution:

Control
Control noise
noise source source by
by design Individual redress
Protection
Disturb the against noise
noise
transmission
paths
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Control noise by design

Reduce traffic noise example: road surface

material need to be improved to give lower
noise output
Reduce machinery/engines impact
Reduce friction resistance
Reduce noise leakage

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 Disturb the noise paths
Disturbing noise path can be done by
providing an obstacle in order to reduce or to
absorb or to reflect the noise potential path.
Example: providing noise proof for the
machinery building for 24 hrs operational
industry
Germany- noise-barrier for the heavy traffic
expressway in the residential and high
inhabitants area.
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Kejuruteraan Alam Sekitar by NB 64

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 Individual Protection against
noise
Via education campaign-To change the
public perspective to differentiate noise
pollution
educate public upon the noise exposure and
how to prevent it. Such campaign can be
simple but constructive such as strive for free
noise nuisance for a week in the residential
area;
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Individual Protection against

noise
Protect the receiver wear ear protection,
alter work schedule (limit the amount of high
noise exposure)
Law enforcement-Legislations by the
authority test on noise emission

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 Control noise source by re-dress

By modification or correcting the existing

noise problem (due to age, abuse etc)
Well maintaining and frequent check
rotating parts, reduce frictional resistance
(lubricate), apply damping materials (pads,
rubber, plastic foam etc)

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End of topic

From this topic you should be able to

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