Date of Award

Spring 5-2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Darrell Gibson

Second Advisor

Jerry Fine

Third Advisor

Eva Andrijcic

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of transmission loss on the overall noise reduction obtained from finite barriers. The noise attenuation ability of barriers is understood to be a consequence of sound waves diffracting around their edges. Although the presence of transmission loss is acknowledged, its significance in affecting noise attenuation is usually not considered a priority in barrier design. This study incorporates the Fresnel Number concept for predicting theoretical insertion loss of a finite barrier and compares these predictions to experimental observations. The experiments performed in this study offer a method to isolate the transmission loss component from diffraction based noise attenuation. This isolation allows the comparison of these two factors in the overall barrier performance. The influence of transmission loss is found to be significant and the findings encourage its consideration in designing solutions to modern noise control challenges.

Comments

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Darrell Gibson for his assistance and guidance during this study. I would also like to express my gratefulness to Dr. Eva Andrijcic and Dr. Jerry Fine for their continuous support and invaluable advice during my research work. As my advisory committee, their encouragement has been fundamental to my academic journey at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. I would like to extend a special thank you to Dr. Edward Wheeler for providing access to his lab, which made the experimental investigations in this study possible. I would also like to convey my gratefulness to the Learning Center for proofreading my drafts and offering crucial suggestions. My sincere appreciation also goes to the Library staff, especially Bernadette Ewen and Amy Harshbarger for their indispensible efforts in providing research materials that were essential for this study. A special thank you also to the Graduate Office for providing the financial opportunities that encourage and support graduate research. My most sincere appreciation goes to my parents and my family. Their encouragement and hard work has been vital in providing an environment full of opportunities and possibilities for success. Last but not the least, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Isabella Magni for her assistance with the experiments and draft corrections. Her encouragement, kindness, and unconditional support have been fundamental to this journey for which I will be forever grateful.

Additional Files
Data Analysis.xlsx (48 kB)
Data Analysis
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