Introduction to noise & sound

Week 1
Sound
Noise
Fundamental of sound
• Sound is a disturbance in the balanced state of
the air molecules which vibrate due to the
propagation of a compression wave Approx.
Material velocity of
sound (m/s)
Air 344
Lead 1220
Water 1410
Brick 3000
Wood 3400
Concrete 3400
Glass 4100
Aluminum 5100
Steel 5200
Sound pressure
Sound pressure

1 atm = 1.01325 x 105 Pa

Wavelength and frequency

𝑐𝑐
(𝜆𝜆 ) 𝑓𝑓 =
𝜆𝜆
Wavelength and frequency

𝑐𝑐
𝑓𝑓 =
𝜆𝜆
𝑐𝑐 = 𝑓𝑓𝜆𝜆
 Sound intensity and power
• Sound wave is transmitting energy
• Intensity is the amount of energy passing
through unit area per unit time (W/m2)
• 𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌 is the characteristics acoustic impedance

𝑃𝑃 = 𝐼𝐼 � 4𝜋𝜋𝑟𝑟 2 𝑝𝑝2 𝑃𝑃
𝐼𝐼 = =
𝜌𝜌𝑐𝑐 Area
Sound pressure
• Sound is made of series of pressure oscillations, hence pressure is
used to express/measure sound field
• However fluctuation becomes faster as frequency increases, hence
time average is taken as indicator to the amplitude of sound signal
1 𝑇𝑇 2
𝑝𝑝rms = ∫ 𝑝𝑝 𝑡𝑡 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑇𝑇 0
• Weakest detectable pressure 20µPa at 1000 Hz
• Threshold of pain 100 Pa
• Dynamic range 1:5,000,000
Sound pressure level (SPL)
• Ear responds to intensity (𝑝𝑝2 )
• Linear scale is to large due to ear
sensitivity

sound pressure 2
SPL = 10 log10 (dB)
reference pressure 2
Reference pressure = 2 × 10−5 (N/m2)

sound power
SWL = 10 log10 (dB)
reference power
Reference power = 10−12 (W)
Sound in enclosures

Anechoic : full absorption Reverberant : full reflection

Sound in enclosures
When wavelength is long
compared to the
dimensions of the
enclosure, the pressure is
uniform in the enclosure
Sound field
Directivity index
Pressure increase at wall
Type of sound source