6 Sound Measuring Instruments
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6 SOUND MEASURING INSTRUMENTS Professor J. Malchaire Unité Hygiène et Physiologie du Travail Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) Clos Chapelle-aux-Champs 3038 B-1200 Bruxelles BELGIUM [email protected] 6.1. INTRODUCTION This chapter describes the noise measuring instruments most widely used in the practice of occupational hygiene. The planning, the strategy and the practical aspects of a noise survey are discussed in Chapter 7. Many types of measuring systems can be used for the measurement of sound depending on the purpose of the study, the characteristics of sound and the extent of information that is desired about the sound. The various elements in a measuring system are: a. the transducer; that is, the microphone; b. the electronic amplifier and calibrated attenuator for gain control; c. the frequency weighting or analyzing possibilities; d. the data storage facilities; e. the display. Not all elements are used in every measuring system. The microphone can, for instance, be connected to a sound level meter or directly to a magnetic tape recorder for data storage and future measurement or reference. An example of the components of the sound level meter is shown in Figure 6.1. Figure 6.1. Sound level meter block diagram The two main characteristics are: 1. The frequency response: that is, the deviation between the measured value and the true value as a function of the frequency. As the ear is capable of hearing sounds between 20 Hz and 126 Sound measuring instruments 20 kHz, the frequency response of the sound level meter should be good, with variations smaller than 1 dB, over that range. 2. The dynamic range: that is, the range in dB over which the measured value is proportional to the true value, at a given frequency (usually 1000 Hz). This range is limited at low levels by the electrical background noise of the instrument and at high levels by the signal distortion caused by overloading the microphone or amplifiers. 6.2. MICROPHONES 6.2.1. The Different Types The microphone is the interface between the acoustic field and the measuring system. It responds to sound pressure and transforms it into an electric signal which can be interpreted by the measuring instrument (e.g. the sound level meter). The best instrument cannot give a result better than the output from the microphone. Therefore, its selection and use must be carefully carried out to avoid errors. When selecting a microphone, its characteristics must be known so that its technical performance (e.g. frequency response, dynamic range, directivity, stability), in terms of accuracy and precision, meets the requirements of the measurement in question, taking into account the expected conditions of use (e.g. ambient temperature, humidity, wind, pollution). The microphone can be of the following types: piezoelectric, condenser, electret or dynamic. In a piezoelectric microphone, the membrane is attached to a piezoelectric crystal which generates an electric current when submitted to mechanical tension. The vibrations in the air, resulting from the sound waves, are picked up by the microphone membrane and the resulting pressure on the piezoelectric crystal transforms the vibration into an electric signal. These microphones are stable, mechanically robust and not appreciably influenced by ambient climatic conditions. They are often used in sound survey meters. In a condenser microphone, the microphone membrane is built parallel to a fixed plate and forms with it a condenser. A potential differential is applied between the two plates using a d.c. voltage supply (the polarisation voltage). The movements, which the sound waves provoke in the membrane, give origin to variations in the electrical capacitance and therefore in a small electric current. These microphones are more accurate than the other types and are mostly used in precision sound level meters. However, they are more prone to being affected by dirt and moisture. A variation on the condenser microphone which is currently very popular is the electret. In this case the potential difference is provided by a permanent electrostatic charge on the condenser plates and no external polarising voltage. This type of microphone is less sensitive to dirt and moisture than the condenser microphone with a polarisation voltage. The last type is a microphone where the membrane is connected to a coil, centred in a magnetic field, and whose movements, triggered by the mechanical fluctuations of the membrane, give origin to a potential differential in the poles of the coil. The dynamic microphone is more mechanically resistant but its poor frequency response severely limits its use in the field of acoustics. 6.2.2. The Sensitivity of a Microphone The sensitivity of a microphone is defined as the amplitude (in mV) of the output signal for an Sound measuring instruments 127 incident sound pressure of amplitude 1 Pa (94 dB) at 1000 Hz. It can also be expressed in decibels by the following expression: Vp 0 Sensitivity 20log10 dB re 1V/Pa V0 p Thus, a microphone giving an output signal V of 10 mV for a pressure signal p of 94 dB has a sensitivity of 10 mV/Pa or -40 dB. Here p0 = 1Pa and V0 = 1 volt. 6.2.3. Frequency Response Good quality piezoelectric or condenser microphones have usually flat frequency response characteristics from 2 Hz to an upper limit which depends on their size. This limit is about 2 kHz for a 1" diameter microphone, 4 kHz for a 1/2" and 8 kHz for a 1/4" microphone. Below this limit, the frequency response is independent of the orientation of the microphone with respect to the noise source, and therefore the microphone can be held in any orientation. Above this limit, the frequency response will depend upon the direction of the sound wave on the microphone membrane. Some microphones have been designed in order for the response characteristics to be flat when the sound direction of propagation is perpendicular to the membrane. These microphones are called free field microphones and should be oriented toward the most significant sound source. Figure 6.2. illustrates the frequency response characteristics of this type of microphone. Figure 6.2. Frequency response of a free field (0°) microphone 128 Sound measuring instruments The numbers on the curves represent the angle of incidence (in degrees) of the incoming sound wave with respect to the normal to the membrane. The quantity, “R”, represents the response to a diffuse sound field (sound incident equally from all possible directions). Other microphones have been designed for the response characteristics to be flat when the sound comes in all directions at the same time as in a diffuse field. They are called diffuse field microphones. Their frequency response characteristic is very near the response characteristic under an incidence of 70° and these microphones should therefore be oriented at 70° toward the predominant sound source. Figure 6.3. illustrates the frequency response characteristics of this type of microphone. Figure 6.3. Frequency response of a diffuse field (R) microphone 6.2.4. Dynamic Range The output of a microphone is limited on the one hand by the internal noise of the transducer and on the other hand by the distortion resulting from high noise levels. In addition, the instrument to which the output signal of the microphone is fed will saturate if the signal is too high and will also give a false result (that is, its background noise level) if the signal is too low. Therefore, high sensitivity microphones are needed to measure very low noise levels (lower than 30 dB), and low sensitivity ones have to be used for high noise levels such as for impact noise (above 130 Sound measuring instruments 129 dB). The dynamic range of typical good quality microphones is thus between 100 and 120 dB. 6.2.5. Selection and Use of a Microphone The selection of the microphone is based on: the levels to be measured, the frequencies to be measured - low or high, the type of acoustic field - free or diffuse, the purpose and the type of measurement - overall level or frequency analysis. As stated previously, the measurement of low noise levels requires high sensitivity microphones and for high levels, low sensitivity ones are needed. The problem arises outside the range 50 to 120 dB usually: the characteristics indicated by the manufacturer for both the microphone and the indicating instrument should be checked. If the noise is predominantly at frequencies below 1 kHz and overall levels are to be determined, any type of microphone may be used. On the contrary, if the noise is suspected or known to include a high frequency content, or that a frequency analysis is going to be made, the frequency characteristics of the microphone must be checked. As stated earlier, the smaller the physical dimensions of the microphone, the wider the frequency range and the lesser the effects of directivity since they occur at higher frequencies. Microphones of small diameter would then be preferable. However, they are more fragile and, with the exception of certain special ones, less sensitive. The user must then choose between free field or diffuse field microphones. When it is necessary to measure the ambient noise level at a given point regardless of the localisation of the sources or in presence of a diffuse field, a diffuse field microphone must be used: this is generally the case in occupational hygiene for the evaluation of exposure to noise. On the contrary, for control purposes, the aim is usually to characterize the noise emitted by a particular machine. The machine should ideally be placed in a free field environment or at least in a very absorbing room and a free field microphone should be selected.