Main aim of this study is to combine the characteristics of the sonic crystal (SC) with acoustic panels and porous materials to improve the sound transmission loss (STL) through the triple-panel structure. SCs cause a bandgap centered around a certain frequency (Bragg’s frequency) due to generation of destructive interference. Initially, an analytical method is developed that extends the previous theory of double-panel structure to predict STL through a triple-panel structure. Finite element (FE) simulations are performed to obtain the STL through the triple-panel, which are validated with the analytical predictions. Various configurations are analyzed using the FE method based on the method of inserting the porous material and SCs between the panels to address the combined effect. STL through the triple-panel structure is compared with that through the double-panel structure having the same total weight and total thickness. It is found that the combined structure of the triple panel and the SC with glass wool as filler gives the best soundproof performance for the same external dimensions. For narrow air gaps, filing with glass wool is more advantageous than inserting one row of SC. In addition, the triple panel combined with a SC has better soundproofing than the two-panel counterparts.

The theoretical estimation of sound absorption coefficient of a surface may give very different results. This will depend on the type of sound field assumed in the theoretical model used for the estimation of its sound absorption coefficient. Absorption coefficients for normal and diffuse sound fields are widely known, although they may be far from the absorption values given by an absorbing material when it is finally installed inside a room or enclosed space, where a sound field closer to a spherical wavefront is more likely to be found. This work presents a theoretical study, which is addressed at obtaining a mathematical expression to calculate the sound absorption coefficient for a variable range of incidence angles, called αs. The presented method uses a circular sound field incidence as an approximation to a spherical incidence. The estimation of this coefficient αs is based on obtaining the incident and reflected sound fields for a surface located facing a lineal source. The advantage of this calculation method over others lies on its capability to give results for circular, normal and random wave incidence depending on the range of incidence angles considered in the calculation.

The radar device for measurement of thickness and structure of "warm" glaciers was used in this work. The measurement of thickness of dielectric is based here on the examination of transit time of hight frequency electromagnetic pulse throught the measured stratum. A total ice volume of "warm" glaciers is in the melting temperature here. Such glaciers are characterized by a large number of internal structure defects. The electromagnetic wave reflections are caused not only b the glacier base but, additionally by ice crevasses, more imbided water layers and by all other defects of the internal glacier structure, too. The simple statistical method was elaborated for differentiation of essential layers reflections from random reglections caused by less extented objects. This method was used to obtain the two transversal profiles of the Hans Glacier (South Spitsbergen).

A system setup for measurements of acoustic field, together with the results of 3D visualisations of acoustic energy flow are presented in the paper. Spatial sampling of the field is performed by a Cartesian robot. Automatization of the measurement process is achieved with the use of a specialized control system. The method is based on measuring the sound pressure (scalar) and particle velocity(vector) quantities. The aim of the system is to collect data with a high precision and repeatability. The system is employed for measurements of acoustic energy flow in the proximity of an artificial head in an anechoic chamber. In the measurement setup an algorithm for generation of the probe movement path is included. The algorithm finds the optimum path of the robot movement, taking into account a given 3D object shape present in the measurement space. The results are presented for two cases, first without any obstacle and the other - with an artificial head in the sound field.

The purpose of the study was to compare auditory judgments of sound clarity of music examples recorded in a concert hall with predictions of clarity made from the impulse response signal recorded in the same hall. Auditory judgments were made with the use of two methods: by rating sound clarity on a numerical scale with two endpoints, and by absolute magnitude estimation. Results obtained by both methods were then compared against the values of clarity indices, C80 and C50, determined from the impulse response of the concert hall, measured in places in which the microphone was located during recording of music examples. Results show that auditory judgments of sound clarity and predictions made from the C80 index yield a similar rank order of data, but the relation between the C80 scale and perceived sound clarity is nonlinear. The data also show that the values of C80 and C50 indices are in very close agreement.

A gear system transmits power by means of meshing gear teeth and is conceptually simple and effective in power transmission. Thus typical applications include electric utilities, ships, helicopters, and many other industrial applications. Monitoring the condition of large gearboxes in industries has attracted increasing interest in the recent years owing to the need for decreasing the downtime on production machinery and for reducing the extent of secondary damage caused by failures. This paper addresses the development of a condition monitoring procedure for a gear transmission system using artificial neural networks (ANNs) and support vector machines (SVMs). Seven conditions of the gear were investigated: healthy gear and gear with six stages of depthwise wear simulated on the gear tooth. The features extracted from the measured vibration and sound signals were mean, root mean square (rms), variance, skewness, and kurtosis, which are known to be sensitive to different degrees of faults in rotating machine elements. These characteristics were used as an input features to ANN and SVM. The results show that the multilayer feed forward neural network and multiclass support vector machines can be effectively used in the diagnosis of various gear faults.

The paper shows a study on the relationship between noise measures and sound quality (SQ) features that

are related to annoyance caused by the traffic noise. First, a methodology to perform analyses related to

the traffic noise annoyance is described including references to parameters of the assessment of road noise

sources. Next, the measurement setup, location and results are presented along with the derived sound quality

features. Then, statistical analyses are performed to compare the measurement results and sound quality

features. The included conclusions are focused on showing that the obtained loudness values, regardless of

the used system, are similar in a statistical sense. Contrarily, sharpness, roughness and fluctuation strength

values differ for the tools employed.

The condition monitoring techniques like acoustic emission, vibration analysis, and infrared thermography, used for the failure diagnosis of bearings, require longer processing time, as they have to perform acoustical measurement followed by signal processing and further analysis using special software. However, for any bearing, its period of usage can be easily determined within an hour, by measuring the bearing sound, using sound level meter (SLM). In this paper the acoustical analysis of the spindle bearing of a radial drilling machine was performed using SLM, by measuring the sound pressure level of the bearing in decibels, for different frequencies, while muting all the other noises. Then using an experimental set up, two database readings were taken, one for new bearing and the other for completely damaged bearing, both are SKF6207, which itself is the spindle bearing. From these three sets of sound pressure level readings, the period of usage of the spindle bearing, was calculated using an interpolation equation, by substituting the life of the bearing from the manufacturer’s catalogue. Therefore, for any machine with a SKF6207 bearing, its usage time can be estimated using the database readings and one measurement on that machine, all with the same speed.

The main problem in the measurement of airborne sound insulation is the measurement of the sound power radiated by the barrier, in practice performed by measuring the sound pressure level and the acoustic absorption in the receiving room. Large variations of the sound pressure level in a reverberation room indicate the presence of dominating strong standing waves, so that it becomes necessary to install diffusing elements. In ISO 10140, the limits have been defined in which the reverberation time at frequencies at and above 100 Hz should be included. Sometimes, however, in the case of rooms with a large volume, obtaining the required parameters is difficult and sometimes even impossible. It should then be checked whether the measured sound insulation depends on the reverberation time.

The paper presents the results of sound insulation measurements at various reverberation time lengths in subsequent stages of diffusing elements installation in the receiving room. An analysis of diffusing materials amount and arrangement influence on the uniformity of the sound pressure level distribution and reverberation time in the room as well as the value of the measured sound insulation was carried out. Uncertainty of sound insulation measurement with partial uncertainties was adopted as a criterion supporting the assessment of the obtained results.

The article analyzes the phonetic system of the Bulaeshty dialect of the Ukrainian language as used in the village of Bulaeshty in the Republic of Moldova. This had been established until the 15th century by the natives of Bukovyna in the Ukraine. A system of contemporary sound derivatives from a Proto-Slavic ancient phonetic system of consonants has been identified. The full or partial conservation of archaic phonetic forms has become fixed. The Bulaeshty dialect retains a number of relict forms, including phonetic archaisms which have long been lost in the Ukrainian literary language and are increasingly fixed in modern Ukrainian dialects. An record of consonant phonemes in the dialect has been compiled. There are 38 phonemes and according to the differential basis of the “place of creation” of the sound manifestations, traditionally they are classified into groups: 1) labials (/б/, /п/, /в/, /м/, /ф/); 2) front tongue (/д/, /д’/, /т/, /т’/, /з/, /з’/, /с/, /с’/, /ц/, /ц’/, /л/, /л’/, /н/, /н’/, /дз/, /дз’/, /р/, /р’/, /дж’/, /ɕ/, /ч/, /ч’/, /ж/, /ш/); 3) medium tongue (/й/); 4) back tongue /(ґ/, /ґ’/, /к/, /к’/, /х/, /х’/); 5) pharyngeal (/г/, /г’/). Тheir functional load and conditions of positional and combinatorial variation have been determined.

In this article some key events concerning founding Polish Section of the Audio Engineering Society were presented. In addition, the history covering International Symposia on Sound Engineering and Mastering was outlined. Also, papers contained in this issue were shortly reviewed.