From Acoustics Week in Canada 2001/De l ’acte semaine candienne d ’acoustique 2001

ISO 19 9 6 “ A c o u s t ic s - D e s c r i p t i o n A n d M e a s u r e m e n t O f E n v ir o n m e n t a l N o is e ”
R o u n d R o b in T e s t in g

W illiam J. G astm eier ' an d Jam es L . Feilders^

1) Howe Gastmeier Chapnik Limited, 2000 Argentia Road, Plaza One, Suite 203, Mississauga, Ontario L5N 1P7
2) Jade Acoustics Inc., 545 North Rivermede Road, Suite 203, Concord, Ontario, L4K 4H1

1. IN T R O D U C TIO N were recorded along with a calibration tone onto audio CD ’s

and were distributed to the group for assessment.
Interest in environmental noise has been steadily increasing
over the last several decades in Canada. The availability of Each of the seven round robin participants was instructed to
accurate and consistent assessment methods are valuable to use the measurement equipment and techniques they would
society in many ways, from the design of residential devel­ normally use in assessing environmental sound. These
opments with regard to noise from road, rail and air traffic to ranged from fairly simple sound level meters to sophisticat­
the need of industry to obtain approvals for the operation of ed real time analysers. Typically, the line level output of the
quiet facilities. As economic growth continues, the trends in participant’s CD player was fed directly into the analysis
urbanization indicate a slowing of urban sprawl with a cor­ equipment via an electrical input, although in at least one
responding increase in intensification and mixed land uses instance the sound was reproduced acoustically through a
with higher and higher densities. Issues of noise and vibra­ high quality loudspeaker system and fed into the analyser via
tion will thereby continue to grow and develop. a microphone.

Over the past several years, the the CSA 107.53 Working
Group of the Industrial Noise Subcommittee of the Canadian 3. RESULTS
Standards Association has been actively involved in the
endorsement of ISO 1996 Standard “Acoustics - Description Results were measured and reported in two ways. Firstly in
and Measurement of Environmental Noise” in Canada. As terms of the L]jyj (Logarithmic Mean Impulse Sound Level)
stated in the standard, there is a very large range of different which is presently the accepted means of measuring frequent
methods currently in use around the world for different types impulses in Canada. It requires the use of measurement
of noise, and this creates considerable difficulties for inter­ devices equipped with the impulse time weighting feature.
national comparison and understanding. The broad aim of
the ISO 1996 series is to contribute to the international har­ Secondly, the measurements were reported in terms of the
monization of methods of description, measurement and Case 1 Rating Level, determined over an hourly time inter­
assessment of environmental noise from all sources. val from short samples. The rating level is the sum of the
measured sound level of each event (SEL) adjusted upwards
The standard specifies methods to assess environmental by 12 decibels (highly impulsive adjustment), adjusted to
noise and predict the potential annoyance response of a com­ account for the reference time interval and adjusted for the
munity to outdoor long term noise exposure. For this pur­ level of background sound. The results are reported in the
pose it defines a rating level which is the result o f applying following table.
some adjustment for sound quality to a measured or predict­
ed sound level determined over a reference time interval.
Prior to endorsing these methods for use in Canada, the ISO 1996 R o u n d R obin Test Results
working group decided to conduct round robin testing to
determine if it could be applied consistently in the Canadian # Gunshots Hammering
context. RL L lm RL L lm
1 66.9 84.2 67.6 86.0
2 66.3 84.3 67.8 82.0
2. M ETHODOLOGY 3 66.4 84.4 65.7 81.1
4 66.4 85 — 84 - 86*
A series of high quality stereo digitized sound effects were 5 67 84.6 67 84.6
audited by the committee and two were chosen for further 6 66.3 84.4 66.2 82.9
study. Both the chosen samples, rifle shots and hammering, 7 63.7 82.2 67.1 84.5
exhibited highly impulsive characteristics. Both samples * dBAI Max

Canadian Acoustics /Acoustique Canadienne Vol. 29 No. 4 (2001) - 34

4. CONCLUSIONS

The gunshot results show excellent consistency, with the

possible exception of #7, which used an acoustical signal
introducing an expected but unknown degree of uncertainty.
The rating level results for hammering showed better consis­
tency than the method which is presently in use. The
slightly higher range may be due to the frequency of the
impulses. They were so frequent that those participants using
simple meters were unable to capture all events. The resolu­
tion of this issue may involve the use of a Case 2 rating level
for frequent impulses.

The results were seen by the committee to suggest that suf­

ficient consistency was possible among all parties, with suit­
able controls. A decision was made to extend the testing to
use real industrial sounds recorded in an Ontario rail facility.
A CD player calibrated at the NRC will be circulated with
the test sound for use by all participants for both Case 1 and
Case 2 rating levels. The results will be reviewed late this
year and may be reported in a future issue of the journal.

5. REFERENCES

[1] ISO 1996-1 Acoustics - Description, assessment

and measurement of environmental noise - Part 1:
Basic quantities and assessment procedures.

[2] ISO 1996-2 Acoustics - Description, assessment

and measurement of environmental noise - Part 2:
Determination of environmental noise levels.

[3] ISO 1996-2 Acoustics - Description, assessment

and measurement of environmental noise - Part 2:
Determination of environmental noise levels.
Amendment 1.

[4] ISO 1996-3 Acoustics - Description, assessment W hether it’s simplicity, ease o f use o r ultra precise capture and analysis,
Scantek has a vibration measuring device to fill the bill.
and measurement of environmental noise - Part 3:
Application to Noise Limits. • W hen you’re on the go, the rugged, hand-held Rion VM-82 meter is the
perfect tool fo r quick, multiple spot checks fo r in-the-field situations.

• W hen you need greater precision and sophisticated analysis capabilities the
lightweight, portable Rion VM-83 is ready to go when you are. It’s optional
servo accelerometer measures extremely low freqency range vibrations
down to 0 .1 Hz.

• For vibration analysis with FFT capabilities turn to Rion's new VA-11 digital
analyzer. Dual-mode operation provides acceleration rms value, peak value
and crest factor measurements in meter mode, and FFT analysis determines
power spectrum and vibration waveform in analyzer mode. W ith batteries
and removable memory card, it weighs in at only 770g!

Scanteh
Sound and vibration
instrumentation and engineering
7060 Suite L, Oakland Mills Rd.. Columbia, MD 2 1046 • Tel: 4 10.290.7726
35 - Vol. 29 No. 4 (2001) Fax: 4 10.290.9167 • Go to: www.scantekinc.com or [email protected]