INDUSTRIAL ENGG - LAB

. EXPERIMENT-4 .
Measurement of sound level and noise in different workshops and industry .

Date:29/09/2020 Name : Rohit Kumar(20186053_PIE)

OBJECTIVE: To determine the sound level using sound level meter.

Introduction:-
The industrial environment has changed drastically in recent decades with an increased level of

automation within the workplace. This has given rise to many changes in employee work patterns. It

used to be the case on the majority of production lines, an employee would stay in one place during his

or her shift. With the increase in completely automated production lines, employees now may supervise

several machines. This means they move around from workstation to the next, varying their exposure to

noise in a much more dramatic way than previously. Monitoring the worker's noise exposure plays an

important role in these types of work conditions.

Making precise measurements of noise used to be quite a tricky business, but now there are automated

electronic instruments that do the job for you. The best way to monitor precisely an individual's

exposure to noise is by using either a sound-level meter or a noise dosimeter. Your first step then is

choosing the right type of instrument to measure noise. What are the differences?

Let's take a look at sound basics first for a clearer understanding of the essence of the both tools…

Theory and Formulae:-

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has established permissible noise exposure which depends on

the duration of exposure shown in Table 2. The exposure to any sound level above 80dB causes the listener to incur a
partial dose. If the total daily exposure consist of several partial exposures to different noise levels, then the several

partial dose are added to obtain a combined exposure using the following formula:

D= 100(C1/T1 + C2/T2 +…………… + Cn/Tn) ≤ 100

Where: D = Noise dose

C = Time spent at specified noise level (hours)

T = Time permitted at specified noise level (hours) (refer Table 2)

The noise dose is then converted to an 8 hour weighted average (TWA) sound level using the formula:

TWA = 16.61 log (D/100) + 90

The TWA is the sound level that would produce a given noise dose if a person is exposure to that sound level

continuously over an 8 hour workday. Thus a worker may be working in a safe environment based on the permissible

noise exposure (Table 2) but the cumulative effect of this exposure based on TWA may proof otherwise.

A noise dose of 50% (TWA = 85 dBA) is the action level and 100% (90 dBA) is the permissible exposure level.
Procedure and Guide for Experimentation:-

This experiment consists of the measurement of sound level in 3 different environments. In sound level measurement,

as a precautionary step, windscreen should always be used when measurements are made outdoor or in very dusty

environment, to ensure validity of measurement obtained, two aspects have to be considered;

i. background noise must be low enough

ii. Sound level meter should be held at arm length or mounted on a tripod (to minimize

disturbances of the sound field due to the operator’s body)

Procedure:

a) Set the Range Selector switch to the appropriate measuring range for the

proposed measurement.

b) Set the Detector Response switch as follows;

“Fast” : For relatively steady sound levels

“Slow” : For relatively fluctuating sound levels

c) Select “Man” mode

d) Switch the Power switch to “ON”

f) Press the Reset button

g) Measure the same sound source for the second time

h) Turn the Power switch “OFF”

i) Go through step (a) to (e) again for 2 other sound sources.

Result:-As I haven't performed the experiment practically in the lab but I have studied the related

articles and I understood now the importance of Sound level at different workplaces of an industry.

Areas for Improvement:-

1. Damping:
Typically used in applications such as chutes, hoppers, panels and tanks, damping usually uses
two noise reduction techniques: layer damping, in which a layer of bitumastic damping material
 is stuck to a surface, and constrained layer damping, which is more rugged and involves
construction of a laminate.

2. Pneumatic exhausts:
Pneumatic exhaust noise can be reduced by up to 30dB by fitting silencers. For back pressure, fit
a larger coupling and silencer; for clogging, you need a straight-through silencer, while multiple
exhausts can be manifolded into a single, larger diameter pipe
.
3. Chain and timing-belt drives:
Quieter timing belts with different tooth profiles aimed at controlling noise can replace noisy
chain drives. A new type of belt for noise-critical applications uses a chevron tooth pattern that
can cut noise by up to 20 dB.

4. Existing machine guards:

Conclusion:- Measuring noise levels and workers' noise exposures is the most
important part of a workplace hearing conservation and noise control program. It helps
identify work locations where there are noise problems, employees who may be
affected, and where additional noise measurements need to be made.