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Chapter 4

Sound Generation Mechanism

Sound Generation Mechanism


1. 2. Airborne sound Structure-borne sound

Airborne sound
The sound generated directly into the air

is called the airborne sound.


Eg: voice, loudspeaker, traffic noise, aircraft noise, musical instrument etc. Airborne sound is transmitted mainly through the air.

Structure-borne sound
The sound produced by sources which act directly on the structure is called structure-borne sound.

eg: foot steps, slamming of doors, windows, vibrating


machinery Structure-borne sound is transmitted mainly through the structure. This type of noise is really a combination of both airborne and impact noise because the impacts

will produce airborne noise.

Propagation of Airborne sound


a) Point source Consider a point source of power W radiating uniformly into free space. To find the sound intensity at a distance r from the source construct a sphere of radius r. Intensity at r, I=

Propagation of Airborne sound


For a given source, W is constant. Therefore, I 1/r2

Sound intensity obeys an inverse square law of


distance. Assumption made:

i) point source
ii) the source radiates acoustic energy uniformly and radially outwards. It is often convenient to express the sound output from a source in terms of sound power level, Lw.

Propagation of Airborne sound


For example consider the sound intensity at a distance r from a point source. I = W/4r2

L = Lw 20 logr 10 log 4 L = Lw 20 log r - 11

Example 1:
Obtain an expression for sound intensity at a distance r from a source placed on hard reflecting ground. Average sound intensity at a distance r from the source,

I = W/2 r2

L = Lw 20 log r -8

Example2:
Obtain an expression for sound intensity at a distance r from a sound source placed on soft absorbing ground. I = (W/2) / 2r2

L = Lw 20 log r - 11

Example 3:
Two sounds of power 4W & 8W are produced at ground level at a distance of 6m and 7m respectively from a point of observation. If the ground is unobstructed and non-absorbing what will be the

sound level observed?

Answer

L = Lw 20 log r - 11

Propagation of Airborne sound


b) Line source Many sound sources in a row can be considered as an infinite line source. e.g. vehicles on a busy motor way (assume vehicles are identical) The sound will radiate cylindrically. Intensity at r,

I = W / 2rl
where W acoustic power per unit length

Propagation of Airborne sound


For a given W, I 1/r

In this case I is inversely proportional to distance.

L = Lw 10 log r 8

Example
Calculate the reduction of sound level for doubling of the distance

Answer
For every doubling of distance the sound level is reduced by 3 dB.

Propagation of Airborne sound


c) Real noise sources They differ from simple point sources in two

ways.
i) the source has a finite size ii) it may radiate different amounts of acoustic

energy in different directions


e.g. Machines with vibrating surfaces

However provided the distance from the source

is great enough, real noise sources do behave like


simple point sources.

Propagation of Airborne sound


Then the sound level in any direction will decrease at the rate of 6 dB per doubling of distance away

from source.
The region close to a real source (such as a machine) is called the near sound field or simply the

near field.
In the near field sound radiating from the various portions of the source combine in a complex way. It is difficult to predict local vibrations (how it varies with distance) in sound intensity near to the source.

Propagation of Airborne sound


The region further away from the real source is called the far sound field or simply the far field. In the far field sound intensity distribution obeys an Inverse Square Law of distance. The extent of the near field region depends on the dimensions of the machine and on the wavelength of sound being radiated. There is no sharp division between the two regions. .

Propagation of Airborne sound

L Vs log(r)

Ideally a minimum distance of 1 or 2 wavelengths or 1 or 2 machine lengths from the source is taken as the far field (whichever is the greater).

Directionality of sound sources


Directionality of radiation may arise because a source can be inherently directional. For example, a machine may radiate more noise the front than the back (e.g. loud speaker). sound from

The directionality of a sound source may be described terms of a directivity factor, Q defined as , Q = (sound..) / (avg sound intensity)

in

Directionality of sound sources


The average intensity is the intensity which would be produced at that distance if the total energy of the source were to be equally distributed in all directions. If for example measurements are made at six points evenly spread over sphere surrounding the source giving intensities; I1, I2, I3, I4, I5, I6
Iav = (I1+I2++I6) / 6

Then directivity factor in a given direction (say direction 3) Q3 = I3 / Iav

Directionality of sound sources


It is more convenient to take measurements as sound levels. The directivity index D in any direction is defined as, D = 10 log (I/Iav) D = 10 log Q where Q is the directivity factor in the direction of interest. D= 10 log (I/I0 x I0/Iav) = 10 log(I/I0) 10 log (Iav/I0) = L - Lav

Reference book:
Acoustics and noise control
2nd edition B J Smith, R J Peters and S Owen

Practical schedule
3 Practical 2 - Outdoors 1 Industrial visit Assignments: Three (3) in-class assignments, each carry 10 marks. 3 for performance 7 for assignment

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