Human Responses to Sound and Vibration

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

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

Knowledge and Understanding

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

• Recognise and select appropriate standards, recommendations, or regulations that apply to particular environments (e.g., domestic, commercial, transport, industrial).
• Understand the principal responses to noise (i.e., perception, loudness, annoyance, speech interference, noise-induced hearing loss).
• 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 methods of measuring and evaluating noise and vibration with respect to human responses.

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.

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 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 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.
• 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 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.
• 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 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 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.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

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

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

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

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.