Least square error method to estimate individual power of noise sources under simultaneous operating conditions [An article from: International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics]

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Description:
People have been aware of the connection between noise and hearing loss for centuries. Hearing loss is not the only adverse effect of occupational noise, but also a number of non-auditory effects may endanger worker's safety. This paper proposes an approach enable engineers to point out quantitatively the noisiest source for modification, while multiple machines are operating simultaneously. The model with the point source and spherical radiation in a free field was adopted to formulate the problem. The proposed method requires input data that includes the coordinates (x, y) of the noise sources and the locations where the sound pressure level is measured, and the measured sound pressure levels. Then, the method of least squares was applying to estimate system parameters. Finally, a set of solutions that represents the sound power of noise sources can be found and these solutions have minimum error in least squares sense. With help of sound powers obtained, engineers would be able to evaluate noise distribution whenever re-layout workplace in future. Relevance to industry: Industry workers suffer psychological and physical stress as well as hearing loss due to industrial noise. Although noise source control can be profound process sometimes, it would be the most effective way to eliminate noise level on source. Therefore, identifying dominant source of noise shall be the first step to overcome the noise problem in industry.