Human Responses to Sound and Vibration

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• Understand the principal responses to whole-body vibration (i.e., perception, comfort, motion sickness, performance, and health) and hand-transmitted vibration (i.e., the hand-arm vibration syndrome, including vibration-induced white finger).
• Understand the principal responses to noise (i.e., perception, loudness, annoyance, speech interference, noise-induced hearing loss).
• Recognise and select appropriate standards, recommendations, or regulations that apply to particular environments (e.g., domestic, commercial, transport, industrial).
• Understand the principal methods of measuring and evaluating noise and vibration with respect to human responses.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Contribute confidently and appropriately to discussions on similar topics.
• Access and understand European Union Directives.
• Discuss noise and vibration issues in a multi-disciplinary environment.
• Assess risk based on technical knowledge and legal requirements.
• Deal with logarithmic quantities, SI units, and reference values.
• Access and understand British, European, and International standards.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Read, understand, and interpret the literature relating to noise and vibration effects upon people
• Understand the principles of measuring, evaluating, and assessing both noise and vibration.
• Apply current standards, limits, and regulations for both noise and vibration.
• Recognise and select appropriate techniques for the investigation of noise and vibration effects.

Partial CEng Programme Level Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• As part of the individual assignment, the student must demonstrate knowledge and understanding of theories and models of human responses to whole-body vibration, environmental and occupational noise, and models of speech intelligibility in noise. The student must apply these in assessing noise and vibration concerns in applications such as the design of seats in transportation, the design of noise control measures for industrial facilities, and the design of public address systems
• As part of the individual assignment, the student must select technical literature, such as text books, journal articles, and national and international standards, that is appropriate in addressing complex problems where human responses to sound and vibration are important. The student must refer to this literature in assessing noise and vibration concerns in applications such as the design of seats in transportation, the design of noise control measures for industrial facilities, and the design of public address systems.
• Principles of the ethics of testing humans, for example for industrial research and development will be introduced and students will need to show an awareness of the principles in their assignments.
• As part of the assessment, the students must demonstrate methods of assessing the risk to human health of exposure to high levels of sound and/or vibration as well as methods of reducing any risk to acceptable levels.
• As part of the individual assignment, the student must demonstrate knowledge and understanding of theories and models of human responses to whole-body vibration, environmental and occupational noise, and models of speech intelligibility in noise. The student must apply these in quantifying and assessing noise and vibration concerns in applications such as the design of seats in transportation, the design of noise control measures for industrial facilities, and the design of public address systems.
• As part of the individual assignment, the student must evaluate the environmental and societal impact of sound and vibration. The student must evaluate these in assessing noise and vibration concerns such as effects on health and quality of life in applications such environmental and occupational noise and vibration arising from transportation systems and industrial or recreational facilities.
• As part of the individual assignment, the student must analyse complex problems in which human responses to sound and vibration may be important by using mathematical models of these responses to known inputs. The student must analyse noise and vibration concerns in applications such as the design of seats in transportation, the design of noise control measures for industrial facilities, and the design of public address systems.
• Principles of Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity will be introduced in the context of standards for acceptable noise and vibration exposure. For example, many of the current vibration standards have been developed from tests on European men. Noise exposure standards have been developed for normal hearing subjects. Students will be required to consider the implications of this for other genders, ethnic groups or hearing-impaired subjects.

Full CEng Programme Level Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• As part of the individual assignment, the student must demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of state-of-the art theories and models of human responses to whole-body vibration, environmental and occupational noise, and models of speech intelligibility in noise. The student must apply these in quantifying and assessing noise and vibration concerns in applications such as the design of seats in transportation, the design of noise control measures for industrial facilities, and the design of public address systems.

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Measure noise and vibration (both whole-body vibration and hand-transmitted vibration) to which people are exposed.
• Assess the severity of noise and vibration to which people are exposed.
• Recognise means of preventing, or minimising, undesirable effects of noise and vibration on people.
• Evaluate noise and vibration to which people are exposed.

Sound

• The human auditory system, including relevant standards: ISO 226 (2003), ISO 7029 (2017).
• Noise and health Hearing damage risk, including relevant standards: ISO 9612 (2009), ISO 119024-1 & 2 (2002), ISO 1999 (2013).
• Non-auditory health risks, vegetative responses.
• Disturbance of speech communication prediction, including relevant standards: IEC 60268-16 (2011).
• Annoyance at home and in other environments.
• Sleep disturbance.
• Planning and noise, including relevant standards: BS 4142 (2014).

Vibration

• Principles of the measurement and evaluation of human vibration exposures.
• Standards and Directives for whole-body vibration and hand-transmitted vibration: ISO 5349-1(2001), ISO 10819 (2013), ISO 2631-1(1997) and ISO 5349-2(2002).
• Health effects of whole-body vibration.
• Effects of whole-body vibration on activities.
• Discomfort produced by whole-body vibration.
• Vibration thresholds.
• Building vibration.
• Biodynamics (body transmissibility, apparent mass, models).
• Seating dynamics (transmissibility, SEAT value, models).
• Health effects of hand-transmitted vibration, their diagnosis, and prevention.
• Measurement, evaluation, and assessment of the vibration of powered hand-held tools.
• Causes of motion sickness in marine, land and air transport.

Lectures on Sound and lectures on Vibration.

Students join the module with widely varying experience / knowledge of human responses to noise and vibration, so in-class questions and discussion is expected.

Laboratory demonstrations of human responses to whole-body vibration and hand-transmitted vibration.

Students are expected to devote time to reading supporting texts to supplement material introduced during lecture periods.

Coursework assignments allow students to build upon lecture material.

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Assignment

• Assessment Type: Formative
• Feedback:
• Final Assessment: No
• Group Work: No

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.