Scribd
Upload
84 views41 pages

Introduction To Noise: Department of Occupational Safety & Health, Ministry of Human Resources

This document introduces noise and its characteristics. It defines noise as unwanted sound and distinguishes it from sound. Noise is characterized by its frequency, sound pressure level measured in decibels, and type (steady, fluctuating, impulsive, intermittent). The A-weighted scale is used to assess noise exposure because it correlates with the ear's response and risk of noise-induced hearing loss.

Uploaded by

Shazana Mat Tahir
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
84 views41 pages

Introduction To Noise: Department of Occupational Safety & Health, Ministry of Human Resources

This document introduces noise and its characteristics. It defines noise as unwanted sound and distinguishes it from sound. Noise is characterized by its frequency, sound pressure level measured in decibels, and type (steady, fluctuating, impulsive, intermittent). The A-weighted scale is used to assess noise exposure because it correlates with the ear's response and risk of noise-induced hearing loss.

Uploaded by

Shazana Mat Tahir
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 41

INTRODUCTION TO NOISE

DEPARTMENT OF OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH,


MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCES

SESSION OBJECTIVES
PARTICIPANTS TO BE ABLE TO:
Differentiate between sound and
noise
State the characteristics of sound
Describe sound pressure level
Describe the A-weighting
State the 4 types of noise

SCOPE
DEFINITION

OF SOUND & NOISE


CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUND
AUDITORY SENSITIVITY
TYPES OF NOISE

DEFINITION: SOUND
SOUND

is a transmission of energy in the


form of vibration through a media
It is generated when fluctuating air
pressure are radiated from a source of
vibration
Pressure fluctuations have 2 characteristics

Amplitude
Frequency

DEFINITION: NOISE
Noise is defined as UNWANTED SOUND or
sound that occur at the wrong place or at the
wrong time
In an occupational setting, noise is unwanted
because
it can cause hearing loss and
hinder communication and lead to accidents

PURE TONE (single frequency)

AMPLITUDE

TIME

1 CYCLE

SOUND WAVE

PURE TONE (single frequency)

Sound level 80
dB
60
40
20
63 125 250 500 1000 2000

Hertz
A pure tone is represented as a column whose position
is the frequency and whose height is the sound level

CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUND
SPEED OF SOUND (VELOCITY)
FREQUENCY (PITCH)
WAVELENGTH
AMPLITUDE, ROOT MEAN SQUARE

SPEED OF SOUND
Speed

of sound through a medium


depends upon the density and pressure
of the medium
344m/s in air, 1433m/s in water,
5179m/s in steel.

FREQUENCY OF SOUND
Frequency
Is

the number of sound pressure variation


per second.

For

layman, frequency is pitch


Sound is made up of low and high
frequency

WAVELENGTH
Wavelength

is the distance required for a


sound wave to travel one cycle.
It is an important property of sound.

Relationship between frequency,


wavelength & velocity of sound
= c/
where
= frequency of sound (hertz)
c = velocity of sound (m/s)
= wavelength of sound (m)

PRESSURE ROOT MEAN


SQUARE (Prms)
The

magnitude of a wave motion

it

is the peak or maximum value(-ve or +ve)


It is analogous to loudness
To get

an average value we need to sum up


all the -ve & +ve sound pressures (hence
rms value)
Make

all pressures +ve


Average the values
Normalise

ROOT MEAN SQUARE


PRESSURE (Prms)

Prms =

a12

+ a22 + . an 2
n

Prms = 0.7Pmax
a1

a2

TIME

AUDITORY SENSITIVITY
Frequency
Audible

frequencies, octave band

Loudness
Threshold

of hearing & pain


Equal loudness contours
Sound

pressure level

Decibel

and reference pressure

Weighting

network- A, B, C

FREQUENCY
Human

ear response to a certain range


of frequencies
20

Hz to 20,000 Hz

Frequency
broken

range too broad

into smaller range or band


most common frequency band for noise
measurement is octave band

OCTAVE BAND
Frequency

bands of acoustic energy

spectrum
Octave band analyser used for simplified
analysis of noise with complex spectra
Bound by lower limit,f1 and upper limit, f2
f2

= 2f1

Band

designated by its centre frequencies, fc

= f1 f2
31.5,63,125,250,500,1k,2k,4k,8k, and 16k Hertz
fc

LOUDNESS
Human

subjective response to sound


pressure and intensity
threshold

of hearing
threshold of pain
Loudness

perceived depends on the


frequency of sound
human

noise

ear more sensitive to high frequency

NOISE LEVEL OF DIFFERENT


ENVIRONMENT
200
20
2

Pa

0.2
0.02
0.002
0.0002
0.00002

SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL (SPL)


In

practice SPL (in decibel) is


measured rather than the sound
pressure (N/m2 or Pa)
Why need to use SPL values (in
decibel) rather than use absolute
sound pressure values?

WHY SPL?
INSTRUMENTATION

DIFFICULT-

SCALE TOO LARGE


QUIETEST

SOUND (Threshold of hearing)


is 20 N/m2 or 20 Pa
LOUDEST TOLERATED BY MAN
(Threshold of pain) is 200 Pa
LOGARITHMIC
E.g:

RESPONSE OF EAR

0.2 Pa sound is twice as loud as 0.02Pa

SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL


Sound
SPL

Pressure Level (SPL) in decibel(dB)

= log10 (P/Po)2

pressure, Po=20 Pa,


approximates the normal human hearing at
1,000Hz.
By this definition
Reference

threshold

of hearing (reference pressure)=0 dB


the threshold of pain is 140 dB

Source: ILO Noise at Work

ADDITION OF DECIBEL

dB(A)
Add to 2
highest
level
1

Difference between two levels

10

WEIGHTING NETWORK

A-WEIGHTED SOUND LEVEL


correlate

well with subjective response


40-phon equal loudness contour

B-WEIGHTED SOUND LEVEL


C-WEIGHTED SOUND LEVEL
relatively

flat response

EQUAL
LOUDNESS
CONTOUR

RELATIVE RESPONSE OF SOUND LEVEL


METER WEIGHTING NETWORK
5

WEIGHTED RESPONSE (dB)

0
-5
-10
-15
-20
-25
-30
-35
-40
-45
31.5

63

125

250

Source: Noise and Vibration in the Working Environment

500

1000

2000

4000

8000

FREQUENCY (Hz)

CORRECTION FACTOR FOR A-WEIGHTED

Octave Band
Frequency

Correction

125

250

500

-16

-9

-3

1000 2000 4000

+1

+1

8000 Hz

-1

dB

EXERCISE
Octave Band
Frequency
Sound
Pressure
Level

125

250

500

1000 2000 4000

88

89

90

90

Correct

91

87

8000 Hz

86

the sound pressure level to Aweightings


Add up the weighted SPL to give an
overall A-weighted SPL

dB

TYPES OF NOISE

Steady state
Continuous

or Non-continuous

Fluctuating
Impulsive

Single

events
Repeated impulses
Intermittent
Steady

or Fluctuating

STEADY-CONTINUOUS NOISE
which has negligibly small
fluctuations of sound level within the
period of observation

SOUND LEVEL

Noise

Varying less
than 3 dB

TIME

STEADY-NON CONTINUOUS NOISE OF TWO


DISCRETE TIME SEGMENTS

SOUND LEVEL

operation

set up
TIME

FLUCTUATING NOISE
Noise

whose intensity rises or falls by


more than 3 dB

SOUND LEVEL

> 3 dB

> 3 dB

TIME

IMPULSIVE NOISE
rise (<0.5 sec)in sound level that
involve a peak at intervals of greater
than one per second
Sound Level

Rapid

> 1 second

< 0.5 second

TIME

SOUND LEVEL

REPEATED IMPULSES

TIME

INTERMITTENT NOISE
STEADY-INTERMITTENT

NOISE
FLUCTUATING-INTERMITTENT NOISE

INTERMITTENT NOISE
Steady

- Intermittent Noise

Sound

level which suddenly drop to the


ambient level several times during the
period of observation and the time during
which the level remains at a constant value
different from that of the ambient level being
of the order of one second or more

STEADY-INTERMITTENT NOISE

SOUND LEVEL

< 3 dB

< 3 dB

TIME

INTERMITTENT NOISE
Fluctuating-Intermittent
Sound

Noise

level which suddenly drop to the


ambient level several times during the
period of observation and the time during
which the level is fluctuating is different from
that of the ambient level being of the order
of one second or more

SOUND LEVEL

FLUCTUATING INTERMITTENT

> 3 dB

TIME

SUMMARY
Noise

can be characterized by its frequency &


sound pressure level (SPL)
Decibel used to describe SPL because of
logarithmic response of the ear & the vast
sound pressure scale
A weighting network is used to assess
exposure because it correlates well to NIHL
Different types of noise characterized by their
degree of fluctuations &
continuity/intermittency

You might also like