Applied sciences

Archives of Acoustics

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Archives of Acoustics | 2014 | vol. 39 | No 1

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Abstract

The paper presents the current state of knowledge concerning the sources of noise generated by wind turbines, force measurement methodology, and assessment of noise onerousness in this type of installation, on the basis of a study concerning a wind farm with five REpower MM92 wind turbines and the electric power of 2 MW and the sound power level of 104.2 dB(A) each. Particular attention was focused on the often discussed problem of presence of infrasound generated by turbines and on the requirements of the applicable reference methodologies for the measurement of wind speed to 5 m/s, while the turbine reaches its full power at speeds above 10 m/s.
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Authors and Affiliations

Maciej Kłaczyński
Tadeusz Wszołek
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Abstract

In 2011, over 520 thousand persons worked in hazardous conditions (according to the GUS). Among hazardous factors related to working environment noise was found to be the most common one, threatening 199,6 thousand people (52.9% threats-per-persons related to working environment). The prevalence of workplace noise and increasing awareness of effects of its impact on the human body causes increase of the demand for knowledge of the methods of noise reduction. Due to the lack of knowledge concerning the proper use of hearing protectors, effective noise exposure in the real world may be about a dozen dB higher than the declared assumed protection value. For this reason, in Central Institute for Labour Protection - NRI “The interactive system for learning the correct use of hearing protectors” has been developed. The system includes a multimedia guide on hearing protectors supplemented by video tutorials, training materials with training hearing protectors, and software for evaluation of the activities of the trainee.
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Authors and Affiliations

Paweł Górski
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Abstract

The analysis of available literature indicates that tests of products sound quality, which would not involve participation of groups of listeners supposed to evaluate the sounds emitted by these products, are neither carried out in Poland, nor in the world. That results in the fact that the products sound quality is determined on the basis of psychoacoustic information and comprises both objective and subjective factors of sound perception. With reference to those factors and to different life cycles of the machine, an original definition of the “sound quality of the machine” has been developed and presented in this article. The global index of the acoustic quality of the machine, accounting for the relations between the noise level at the workstation and the selected parameters characterising both the machine's sound activity and the working environment, was adopted as the measure of the sound quality of the machine. The experiments that followed confirmed the appropriateness of the assessment made with the use of the global index of acoustic quality.
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Authors and Affiliations

Dariusz Pleban
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Abstract

The problem of estimation of the long-term environmental noise hazard indicators and their uncertainty is presented in the present paper. The type A standard uncertainty is defined by the standard deviation of the mean. The rules given in the ISO/IEC Guide 98 are used in the calculations. It is usually determined by means of the classic variance estimators, under the following assumptions: the normality of measurements results, adequate sample size, lack of correlation between elements of the sample and observation equivalence. However, such assumptions in relation to the acoustic measurements are rather questionable. This is the reason why the authors indicated the necessity of implementation of non-classical statistical solutions. An estimation idea of seeking density function of long-term noise indicators distribution by the kernel density estimation, bootstrap method and Bayesian inference have been formulated. These methods do not generate limitations for form and properties of analyzed statistics. The theoretical basis of the proposed methods is presented in this paper as well as an example of calculation process of expected value and variance of long-term noise indicators LDEN and LN. The illustration of indicated solutions and their usefulness analysis were constant due to monitoring results of traffic noise recorded in Cracow, Poland.
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Authors and Affiliations

Wojciech Michał Batko
Bartłomiej Stępień
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Abstract

The work presents the results of experimental study on the possibilities of determining the source of an ultrasonic signal in two-dimensional space (distance, horizontal angle). During the research the team used a self-constructed linear array of MEMS microphones. Knowledge in the field of sonar systems was utilized to analyse and design a location system based on a microphone array. Using the above mentioned transducers and broadband ultrasound sources allows a quantitative comparison of estimation of the location of an ultrasonic wave source with the use of broadband modulated signals (modelled on bats' echolocation signals) to be performed. During the laboratory research the team used various signal processing algorithms, which made it possible to select an optimal processing strategy, where the sending signal is known.

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Authors and Affiliations

Krzysztof Herman
Tadeusz Gudra
Joanna Furmankiewicz
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Abstract

Sound processing with loudspeaker driving depends critically on high quality electroacoustic transducers together with their relevant amplifiers. In this paper, the nonlinear effects of electrodynamic loudspeakers are investigated as regard the influence of the changes of their main descriptive parameters values. Indeed, while being operated nonlinear effects observed with loudspeakers are due to changes of such constitutive parameters. Regarding either current or voltage-drive, an original model based on Simulink R is presented, taking account of all the electrical and mechanical properties closely associated with nonlinear behaviours. Moreover, as such a Simulink R model may be combined with the PSpice R advanced software, the behaviour of both loudspeaker and amplifier can be exhaustively investigated and optimized. To this end, the amplifier is simulated thanks to the Orcad-Capture-PSpiceR software prior to match with the loudspeaker model with the so-called SLPS co-simulator. Then, values of the current flowing through the loudspeaker can be determined and plotted considering voltage controlling. Obviously in this case current-drive has not to be assessed. This way to proceed allows us to highlight any critical information especially due to the voice coil displacement, yielded velocity, and acceleration of the diaphragm. Indeed our approach testifies to the imperative necessity of mechanical measurements together with electrical ones. Then, considering a given amplifier-loudspeaker association with specific parameters changes of the latter, the entailed nonlinear distortion allows us to qualify and criticize the whole design. Such an original approach should be most valuable so as to match the best fitted amplifier with a given electrodynamic loudspeaker. Then non linear effects due to voltage and current-drive are compared highlighting the advantages of an apt currentcontroled policy.

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Authors and Affiliations

Mehran Erza
Etienne Gaviot
Guy Lemarquand
Pascal Tournier
Lionel Camberlein
Stephane Durand
Frederic Polet
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Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of tampering detection and discusses methods used for authenticity analysis of digital audio recordings. Presented approach is based on frame offset measurement in audio files compressed and decoded by using perceptual audio coding algorithms which employ modified discrete cosine transform. The minimum values of total number of active MDCT coefficients occur for frame shifts equal to multiplications of applied window length. Any modification of audio file, including cutting off or pasting a part of audio recording causes a disturbance within this regularity. In this study the algorithm based on checking frame offset previously described in the literature is expanded by using each of four types of analysis windows commonly applied in the majority of MDCT based encoders. To enhance the robustness of the method additional histogram analysis is performed by detecting the presence of small value spectral components. Moreover, computation of maximum values of nonzero spectral coefficients is employed, which creates a gating function for the results obtained based on previous algorithm. This solution radically minimizes a number of false detections of forgeries. The influence of compression algorithms' parameters on detection of forgeries is presented by applying AAC and Ogg Vorbis encoders as examples. The effectiveness of tampering detection algorithms proposed in this paper is tested on a predefined music database and compared graphically using ROC-like curves.

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Authors and Affiliations

Rafał Korycki
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Abstract

The impulse noise is agent harmful to health not only in the case of shots from firearms and the explosions of explosive materials. This kind of noise is also present in many workplaces in the industry. The paper presents the results of noise parameters measurements in workplaces where four different die forging hammers were used. The measured values of the C-weighted peak sound pressure level, the A-weighted maximum sound pressure level and A-weighted noise exposure level normalized to an 8 h working day (daily noise exposure level) exceeded the exposure limit values. For example, the highest measured value of the C-weighted peak sound pressure level was 148.9 dB. In this study possibility of the protection of hearing with the use of earplugs or earmuffs was assessed. The measurement method for the measurements of noise parameters under hearing protection devices using an acoustical test fixture instead of testing with the participation of subjects was used. The results of these measurements allows for assessment which of two tested earplugs and two tested earmuffs sufficiently protect hearing of workers in workplaces where forging hammers are used.

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Authors and Affiliations

Emil Kozłowski
Rafał Młyński
Jan Adamczyk
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Abstract

Sound localization problems are usually tackled by the acquisition of data from phased microphone arrays and the application of acoustic holography or beamforming algorithms. However, the number of sensors required to achieve reliable results is often prohibitive, particularly if the frequency range of interest is wide. It is shown that the number of sensors required can be reduced dramatically providing the sound field is time stationary. The use of scanning techniques such as “Scan & Paint” allows for the gathering of data across a sound field in a fast and efficient way, using a single sensor and webcam only. It is also possible to characterize the relative phase field by including an additional static microphone during the acquisition process. This paper presents the theoretical and experimental basis of the proposed method to localise sound sources using only one fixed microphone and one moving acoustic sensor. The accuracy and resolution of the method have been proven to be comparable to large microphone arrays, thus constituting the so called “virtual phased arrays”.

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Authors and Affiliations

Daniel Fernández Comesana
Keith R. Holland
Dolores García Escribano
Hans-Elias de Bree
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Abstract

A questionnaire inquiry on response to wind turbine noise was carried out on 361 subjects living in the vicinity of 8 wind farms. Current mental health status of respondents was assessed using Goldberg General Health Questionnaire GHQ-12. For areas where respondents lived, A-weighted sound pressure levels (SPLs) were calculated as the sum of the contributions from the wind power plants in the specific area.

Generally, 33.0% of respondents were annoyed outdoors by wind turbine noise at the calculated A-weighted SPL of 31-50 dB, while indoors the noise was annoying to 21.3% of them. The proportion of subjects evaluating the noise produced by operative wind turbines as annoying decreased with increasing the distance from the nearest wind turbine (27.6% at the distance of 400-800 m vs 14.3% at the distance above 800 m, p < 0.016). On the other hand, the higher was the noise level, the greater was the percentage of annoyed respondents (14.0% at SPL up to 40 dB vs 28.1% at SPL of 40-45 dB, p < 0.016). Besides noise and distance categories, subjective factors, such as general attitude to wind turbines, sensitivity to landscape littering and current mental health status, were found to have significant impact on the perceived annoyance. About 50% of variance in annoyance rating might be explained by the aforesaid subjective factors.

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Authors and Affiliations

Małgorzata Pawlaczyk-Łuszczyńska
Adam Dudarewicz
Kamil Zaborowski
Małgorzata Zamojska-Daniszewska
Małgorzata Waszkowska
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Abstract

Stealth is a frequent requirement in military applications and involves the use of devices whose signals are difficult to intercept or identify by the enemy. The silent sonar concept was studied and developed at the Department of Marine Electronic Systems of the Gdansk University of Technology. The work included a detailed theoretical analysis, computer simulations and some experimental research. The results of the theoretical analysis and computer simulation suggested that target detection and positioning accuracy deteriorate as the speed of the target increases, a consequence of the Doppler effect. As a result, more research and measurements had to be conducted to verify the initial findings. To ensure that the results can be compared with those from the experimental silent sonar model, the target's actual position and speed had to be precisely controlled. The article presents the measurement results of a silent sonar model looking at its detection, range resolution and problems of incorrect positioning of moving targets as a consequence of the Doppler effect. The results were compared with those from the theoretical studies and computer simulations.

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Authors and Affiliations

Jacek Marszal
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Abstract

The paper presents a new electromechanical amplifying device i.e., an electromechanical biological transistor. This device is located in the outer hair cell (OHC), and constitutes a part of the Cochlear amplifier. The physical principle of operation of this new amplifying device is based on the phenomenon of forward mechanoelectrical transduction that occurs in the OHC's stereocilia. Operation of this device is similar to that of classical electronic Field Effect Transistor (FET). In the considered electromechanical transistor the input signal is a mechanical (acoustic) signal. Whereas the output signal is an electric signal. It has been shown that the proposed electromechanical transistor can play a role of the active electromechanical controlled element that has the ability to amplify the power of input AC signals. The power required to amplify the input signals is extracted from a battery of DC voltage. In the considered electromechanical transistor, that operates in the amplifier circuit, mechanical input signal controls the flow of electric energy in the output circuit, from a battery of DC voltage to the load resistance. Small signal equivalent electrical circuit of the electromechanical transistor is developed. Numerical values of the electrical parameters of the equivalent circuit were evaluated. The range, which covers the levels of input signals (force and velocity) and output signals (voltage, current) was determined. The obtained data are consistent with physiological data. Exemplary numerical values of currents, voltages, forces, vibrational velocities and power gain (for the assumed input power levels below 1 picowatt (10-12 W)), were given. This new electromechanical active device (transistor) can be responsible for power amplification in the cochlear amplifier in the inner ear.

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Authors and Affiliations

Piotr Kiełczyński
Marek Szalewski
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Abstract

The main purpose of this investigation was to measure the effect of contralateral acoustic stimulation (CAS) on distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) in twenty human ears, for a ratio of primary tones f2/f1 = 1.22 and a wide frequency range of f2 (1.4-9 kHz), for two intensity levels of primary tones (L1 = 60 dB SPL; L2 = 50 dB SPL and L1 = 70 dB SPL; L2 = 60 dB SPL) and two intensity levels of CAS (50 and 60 dB SPL). It was found that in the presence of CAS, in the majority of cases the DPOAE level decreased (suppression), but it might also increase (enhancement) or remain unchanged depending on the frequency. The mean suppression level of the component of the frequency fDP = 2f1 f2 might be approximated by a linearly decreasing function of the f2 frequency of primary tones. The slope of this function was negative and increased with an increase of the contralateral stimulation level. The higher was the contralateral noise level the greater was the suppression. For the fDP level below about 15 dB SPL, suppression was observed in a substantial number of measurement cases (in about 85% of all measured cases on average). When the fDP level was higher than 15 dB SPL, only suppression (not enhancement) was observed.

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Authors and Affiliations

Edward Ozimek
Andrzej Wicher
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Abstract

Therapeutic and surgical applications of focused ultrasound require monitoring of local temperature rises induced inside tissues. From an economic and practical point of view ultrasonic imaging techniques seem to be the most suitable for the temperature control. This paper presents an implementation of the ultrasonic echoes displacement estimation technique for monitoring of local temperature rise in tissue during its heating by focused ultrasound The results of the estimation were compared to the temperature measured with thermocouple. The obtained results enable to evaluate the temperature fields induced in tissues by pulsed focused ultrasonic beams using non-invasive imaging ultrasound technique

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Authors and Affiliations

Piotr Karwat
Jerzy Litniewski
Tamara Kujawska
Wojciech Secomski
Kazimierz Krawczyk
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Abstract

Experimental modal analysis of a violin with three different tensions of a bass bar has been performed. The bass bar tension is the only intentionally introduced modification of the instrument. The aim of the study was to find differences and similarities between top plate modal parameters determined by a bass bar perfectly fitting the shape of the top plate, the bass bar with a tension usually applied by luthiers (normal), and the tension higher than the normal value. In the modal analysis four signature modes are taken into account. Bass bar tension does not change the sequence of mode shapes. Changes in modal damping are insignificant. An increase in bass bar tension causes an increase in modal frequencies A0 and B(1+) and does not change the frequencies of modes CBR and B(1-).

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Authors and Affiliations

Ewa B. Skrodzka
Bogumił B.J. Linde
Antoni Krupa
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Abstract

Zygmunt G. Wąsowicz, PhD emeritus of the Chair of Acoustics and Multimedia, Wrocław University of Technology, passed away on the 8th of January 2014. His whole professional career was associated with the acoustics. Dr. Z. Wąsowicz was born in Nowy Sącz in 1931. In 1956 he graduated from the Faculty of Telecommunications at the Wrocław University of Technology and started to work there in the same year. In 1966 he obtained the PhD title, under supervision of Professor Z. Żyszkowski, for the dissertation concerning the subjective criteria of nonlinear distortions in loudspeakers. His main interests of activity were room acoustics as well as subjective assessment of sound quality. He worked out the subjective method of loudspeaker evaluation for Polish Loudspeaker Company “Tonsil” – this method was based on so-called “the live apparent sound”. He worked also on computer methods of acoustical field modeling in rooms. The works mentioned above were pioneer and modern in Poland. He participated as an acoustician, in various designers groups at for example auditory halls of Faculty of Electronics. Dr. Wąsowicz was the outstanding academical teacher whom students liked very much. He was also a member of Polish Acoustical Society and worked for the Main Board as well as the Wrocław Division of this society. In periods 1979–1983 and 1994–1996 he was the vice-dean of Faculty of Electronics. He received many awards, for example Golden Cross of Merit, Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, Medal of the National Education Commission and many awards from the Governors of Wrocław University of Technology and Institute of Telecommunications and Acoustics. In 1996 he was retired and beside of this he stayed in contact with Faculty of Electronics for many years. Wrocław acoustical community mourns the loss of Dr. Z. Wąsowicz.

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Authors and Affiliations

Andrzej Dobrucki
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Abstract

Elżbieta M. Walerian, Ph.D., D.Sc., a retired employee of the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IPPT PAN), passed away after a serious illness, on the 26th December 2013. She was one of the scientific leaders in the Section of Environmental Acoustics of IPPT PAN and her career, educational and organizational activities were inseparably linked with the acoustics. Elżbieta Walerian was born on August 9th 1950 in Poznań. She graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, receiving her Master of Science degree in the environmental acoustics in 1973. Five years later, under the supervision of Professor Ignacy Malecki, she obtained her PhD title, in the physical acoustics, in IPPT PAN in Warsaw. In 1979 she began working at the Section of Environmental Acoustics of IPPT PAN, where she dealt with the diffraction of acoustic waves and a description of the sound field produced by vehicles moving in an urban area.

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Mirosław Meissner
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Abstract

Traditionally, the 42nd Winter School on Vibroacoustical Hazards Suppressions national conference is organized by Upper Silesian Division of the Polish Acoustical Society. The conference again is organized in Szczyrk. As at previous year, the conference has two co-organizers, i.e. Institute of Physics – Science-Didactic Center at the Silesian University of Technology and the Committee of Acoustics of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The conference is a forum for all environmental vibroacoustic fields. Particularly it concerns traffic noise, industry noise, vibroacoustics of machines, room acoustics, building acoustics, noise protection and similar problems. Works which are presented during the School are theoretical, experimental, measuring, technical, applied and normative. The School lectures and other conference materials will be published in the “Materials of the XLII Winter School on Vibroacoustical Hazards Suppressions” (in Polish) edited by dr. Roman Bukowski. This publication will be intended for participants of the School and for many libraries in Poland. Other information about the 42nd WS on VHS you can find on our website http://ogpta.pols.pl/szzzw

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Authors and Affiliations

Roman Bukowski

Instructions for authors

Author Guidelines
• Manuscripts intended for publication in Archives of Acoustics should be submitted in pdf format by an on-line procedure.
• Manuscript should be original, and should not be submitted either previously or simultaneously elsewhere, neither in whole, nor in part.
• Submitted papers must be written in good English and proofread by a native speaker.
• Basically, the papers should not exceed 40 000 typographic signs.
• Postal addresses, affiliations and email addresses for each author are required.
• Detailed information see Article Requirements.
• Manuscript should be accompanied by a cover letter containing the information:
o why the paper is submitted to ARCHIVES OF ACOUSTICS,
o suggestion on the field of acoustics related to the topic of the submitted paper,
o the statement that the manuscript is original, the submission has not been previously published, nor was sent to another journal for consideration,
o 3–5 names of suggested reviewers together with their affiliations, full postal and e-mail addresses; at least 3 suggested reviewers should be affiliated with other scientific institutions than the affiliations of the authors,
o author’s suggestion to classification of the paper as the research paper, review paper or technical note.

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2. The title of the paper should be as short as possible.
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5. The text should be preceded by a concise abstract (less than 200 words).
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For more information on references see http://acoustics.ippt.gov.pl/public/Instructions.pdf.
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