MOTOR VEHICLE NOISE STUDIES
STUDY WAS CONDUCTED ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF NOISE GENERATED BY TRAFFIC STREAMS. TEST SITES WERE SELECTED SO AS TO BE REPRESENTATIVES OF VARIOUS OPERATING CONDITIONS ON FACILITIES OF THE EXPRESSWAY TYPE. THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY WERE TO: (1) DETERMINE THE MAGNITUDES OF THE NOISES ASSOCIATED WITH THE VARIOUS TYPES OF VEHICLES AND HIGHWAY FACILITIES, AND (2) ATTEMPT TO EVALUATE THE NOISES IN TERMS OF PHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS THAT CORRELATE WITH SUBJECTIVE APPRAISALS. THE FIRST PART OF THE REPORT PRESENTS THE DATA OBTAINED ON NOISE LEVELS ADJACENT TO EXPRESSWAY- TYPE HIGHWAYS UNDER CONDITIONS THAT ARE TYPICAL OF MANY SUCH AREAS IN THE UNITED STATES. THE SECOND PART COVERS THE PROJECT OF ANALYZING THE NOISE SPECTRUM FROM VARIOUS TYPES OF VEHICLES AS OBSERVED ON THE ROAD AND AS MEASURED ON A TEST DYNAMOMETER. JURY APPRAISALS OF THE LATTER NOISE SPECTRA WERE ALSO OBTAINED AND CORRELATIONS DETERMINED BETWEEN JURY RATINGS AND MEASUREMENTS. STUDY SHOWS THAT SOME OF THE MOST BOTHERSOME NOISES FROM VEHICLES ON THE HIGHWAY OCCUR WHEN THE VEHICLES ARE OPERATED AT HIGH ENGINE SPEEDS DURING ACCELERATION AND JUST PRIOR TO SHIFTING GEARS. THIS CONDITION GIVES RISE TO A COMBINATION OF HIGH-FREQUENCY COMPONENTS AND AN INTERMITTENT NOISE PATTERN, AS WELL AS HIGH INTENSITY. THE TIME-PATTERN FACTOR FOR INTERMITTENT NOISES HAS AT LEAST TWO COMPONENTS: (1) THE LENGTH OF TIME THE NOISE REMAINS AT AN ANNOYING LEVEL, AND (2) THE LENGTH OF TIME BETWEEN PASSING VEHICLES WHICH ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NOISE. NOISES THAT OCCUR PERIODICALLY ARE GENERALLY CONSIDERED LESS ANNOYING THAN THOSE WHICH OCCUR AT IRREGULAR INTERVALS. TECHNIQUES OF MEASUREMENTS USED IN THIS STUDY PERMIT COMPARISONS TO BE MADE ON EITHER AN ANNOYANCE, LOUDNESS, OR INTENSITY BASIS IF THE CORRELATIONS THAT ARE SHOWN BETWEEN THE METER READINGS AND THE SUBJECTIVE QUANTITIES ARE CONSIDERED ADEQUATE.
- Record URL:
-
Supplemental Notes:
- No 110, pp 15-33, 11 FIG, 5 TAB, 21 REF Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
-
Authors:
- FINCH, D M
- Publication Date: 1955
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Pagination: 19p
- Monograph Title: Abatement of highway noise and fumes
-
Serial:
- Highway Research Board Bulletin
- Issue Number: 110
- Publisher: Highway Research Board
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Expressways; Motor vehicles; Passing; Sound level meters; Speed; Time; Traffic noise
- Old TRIS Terms: Periodic variations; Time factor
- Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00222974
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB
- Created Date: Jul 28 1994 12:00AM